As the new panel that will lead Brunswick County’s efforts to attract new jobs and industry met for the first time Tuesday, the county's recently hired county economic development director shared the progress he’s made during his first month on the job.
Michael DiTullo, whose hiring was
announced in September and who started in the director's job on Nov. 2, shared some information about four recent recruitment prospects, along with other updates and observations on the county's economic development climate, with members of the Brunswick County Economic Development Advisory Committee at its inaugural public meeting Tuesday morning.
One of the four DiTullo mentioned and the only to be specifically named, MicroSolv Technology Corp.,
broke ground last week on a facility at Leland Industrial Park. Describing a different unnamed potential Brunswick employer, DiTullo said the county is working with the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina and the state regarding an incentive offer that, if accepted, could deliver 300 to 400 manufacturing jobs and multi-million dollar capital investment. That company would occupy an existing, vacated industrial building in northern Brunswick, the report said.
Another project that’s in its early stages would involve the development of more than 500 acres in a central location in the county with up to 600,000-square-feet of new, build-to-suit, “state-of-the-art production space…and as many as 1,300 jobs,” the report said.
A fourth project that the county is directly involved in recruiting is a craft brewery prospect that is looking for a place to put a 15,000- to 20,000-square-foot craft brewery, which could bring 80 to 100 jobs, possibly in the southern portion of the county. Executives of the firm were in Brunswick County recently as DiTullo and assistant director Kelly Stuart featured three properties that matched the majority of their occupancy requirements, according to the report.
Of the 50 appointments and meetings DiTullo has participated in during his first month, six of those contacts were developers or builders, he told the committee.
“I’ve mentioned to other people that I apporach economic development from a real estate-centric perspective. Every single economic development transaction, just about, is a real estate transaction,” DiTullo explained. “Working with commercial builders, developers is sort of like a transmission belt that can generate business activity.”
DiTullo said he also visited some of the county’s existing businesses.
“We’re making it very clear to the existing industries – you’re our customers and we’re going to do whatever we can do to help you grow and to help you prosper. If you’re having issues, if you’re having challenges, will you please let us know,” he said.
DiTullo said several Brunswick businesses are growing, including adding jobs and expanding into more space, and building relationships with those companies is an important part of economic development.
“Existing industry is critical to our success,” he said.
Also at the meeting Tuesday, held in the atrium of the Island Café at the Brunswick County Government Complex in Bolivia, the six voting members of the 16-member panel chose Richard Kopp, owner of Kopp’s Kwik Stop in Bolivia, as committee chairman, and Allen Bryant, marketing executive at First Citizen’s Bank, as vice chairman.
The group chose some goals for future meetings, which are planned to be held on the second Tuesday of each month. Those goals include inviting state legislators and other state officials to attend and touring and learning more about Brunswick Community College’s economic development assets.
This summer, the Brunswick County Board of Commissioners voted to create the county Economic Development Department rather than continuing to provide funding and support to separate legal entities that did the job. The change came after questions surfaced about how those entities, the Brunswick County Economic Development Commission and Brunswick County Economic Development Corp., had used county funds from 2009 to 2014.
