Wilmington City Council will vote on four economic incentive packages for undisclosed companies totaling a $695,000 commitment at its next meeting, set for March 1. 

Due to a “snafu that occurred during the time of publication of the notice,” city manager Tony Caudle told council at Tuesday evening’s regular council meeting, the four public hearings were held open and continued for two weeks.

Meanwhile, New Hanover County commissioners are slated to vote on the items at their meeting Monday. The county’s total contribution to the four deals will be $1,917,500; combined, both local governments are prepared to commit $2,612,500 to the four companies, which are poised to create 1,064 new full-time jobs. 

Payments are contingent on performance and will be spaced out over a five-year period. 

The items were brought to the city and county by Wilmington Business Development (WBD), a nonprofit economic development entity the local governments help fund. 

Scott Satterfield, WBD’s CEO, said he could not comment on the projects at this time. 

All four businesses will also receive state funding, Caudle told council Tuesday. A representative of the N.C. Department of Commerce said the department doesn’t discuss conversations or share documentation until the organization makes a public announcement of their site decision. 

For now, state funding for the projects is pending, Caudle said, and the state “reserves to itself the right to make the announcement, so that’s the reason for the cloak-and-dagger on the names of the group.” 

Projects “Clear,” “Buckeye” and “Speed” have pledged to invest a combined $126.2 million in real and personal business property. No similar real and personal business property investment is mentioned for Project Transit.

Councilwoman Margaret Haynes said she believed “most of them are building brick-and-mortar buildings.” She described the incentives as a refund for tax generated by the companies’ investments. 

Former Councilman Kevin O’Grady submitted a public comment, which the city clerk read aloud to council (the comment was interrupted by Opera House Theatre Co.’s musical number in Footloose, when the rehearsal’s audio streamed through the city’s speaker system, causing a brief interruption). 

In his comments, O’Grady said each item contrasts with the methodology council utilized for incentivizing the restart of National Gypsum. The company received a total incentive package of $580,000 from the city and county in 2018 to revive its previously shuttered plant. 

At the time, council required positions and salary scales to be disclosed rather than relying on an average wage figure, O’Grady said. “None of the four items meet that test,” he said. “Averages do not ensure all jobs provide a living wage.”

View a breakdown of the four projects below, including the combined city and county local incentive deals: