NC to receive $298M to support education jobs

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan today announced that North Carolina will receive $298 million to support education jobs.

“There is a huge sense of urgency to get these funds out the door,” Duncan said. “I commend North Carolina for being one of the first to submit their application and thank our team at the Department for making funds available within a matter of days. These education dollars will help North Carolina keep thousands of teachers in the classroom working with our students this school year.”

The $10 billion education fund will support education jobs in the 2010-11 school year and be distributed to states by a formula based on population figures. States can distribute their funding to school districts based on their own primary funding formula or districts’ relative share of federal Title I funds.

Over the last two years, the Department has been able to support 300,000 education jobs through stimulus funding provided by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. At this time, seven states have drawn down 100 percent of previously allocated jobs funding, while 18 states total have drawn down 80 percent or more. A July report from the independent Center on Education Policy found that 75 percent of school districts that received stimulus funds expect to cut teaching positions in the upcoming school year.

Source: Asheville Citizen Times

Michelin plans $11M expansion in Stanly County

Stanly County and two towns will offer Michelin $900,000 in incentives for the promise of adding 70 jobs to the company’s aircraft tire plant just outside of Norwood.

Michelin plans to spend $11 million to expand its aircraft tire retreading operation and add the jobs to the plant’s work force of 320.

Kevin Gullette, executive director of the Stanly County Economic Development Commission, says the company attracted 1,100 applications when it announced hiring plans.

The expansion is slated to be completed in the first quarter of 2011.

Source: Charlotte Business Journal

N.C. IT job demand rises in June

The state’s demand for information technology jobs climbed by 12.8 percent this month, according to the latest report from the North Carolina Technology Association and national talent management firm SkillProof.

Average daily openings for June reached 3,350, the report shows. That’s an increase of nearly 400 from May and nearly triple the 1,240 listings in June 2009.

Last month’s figure also tops pre-recession numbers from June 2008, when North Carolina listed 3,250 jobs daily.

The report also noted potential for a slowdown in the summer season.
June 2010 job openings by category, with June 2009 figure in parentheses:

* Systems engineering/support: 930 (470)
* IT architects/consultants: 560 (150)
* IT management: 600 (70)
* Software development: 520 (280)
* IT sales and marketing: 320 (70)
* Systems administration: 220 (90)
* Business/process design: 80 (60)
* Hardware engineering: 40 (10)
* Training/tech writing: 40 920)
* Misc. categories: 40 (20)
Top 15 needed skills (2009 total in parentheses):
* Oracle DBMS: 620 (230)
* Windows OS: 520 (320)
* SQL: 490 (220)
* Java: 460 (170)

Source: Charlotte Business Journal

EPA grants $400K for brownfields

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has awarded $400,000 to the city of Charlotte for remediation of contaminated property.

The federal grant can be used to identify sites that can be restored for development. Funds are targeted for the development of a local brownfield inventory, site assessments and community outreach in the city’s revitalization corridors.

City Council members must approve the award before the funds are disbursed. The grant is expected to go before the council later this summer.

Source: Charlotte Business Journal

Duke Energy plans commercial solar project in Shelby

Duke Energy Generation Services is developing a 1-megawatt solar farm in Shelby and will sell the power to the N.C. municipal power agency that provides power to the city.

The 10-acre farm will provide enough power for the equivalent of 140 homes, says DEGS, an unregulated division of parent company Duke Energy Corp. (NYSE:DUK). It is the second solar project undertaken by DEGS and the first commercial project it has built in the Carolinas.

“Given the solar farm’s close proximity to our headquarters in Charlotte, N.C., adding the Shelby solar project to Duke Energy’s growing commercial renewable-power portfolio is an especially meaningful milestone for our company,” says DEGS President Wouter van Kempen.
DEGS bought the project last month from California-based SunPower Corp. SunPower (NASDAQ:SPWRA) will install the 4,500 panels at the site. The project is expected to start producing energy next month.
The farm is near the Shelby-Cleveland County Municipal Airport. The land is being leased from the city of Shelby.

North Carolina Municipal Power Agency No. 1 has agreed to buy the power from the project for 20 years. The agency will get both power and renewable-energy credits from the project. That will help it meet state requirements starting this year that mandate power companies produce 0.2 percent of the energy they sell in North Carolina from solar power by 2018.

“This agreement is a great start to the development of our solar resource portfolio,” says Graham Edwards, chief executive of ElectriCities, the management services organization for North Carolina Municipal Power Agency No. 1. “Solar power is a great complement to our existing power-supply portfolio, providing peak power during the daylight hours, while also helping to maintain our very small carbon footprint.”

DEGS is separate from Duke’s regulated utilities, such as Duke Energy Carolinas. DEGS builds and operates power plants for industrial and municipal customers. It got involved in renewable-energy projects in 2007 with the purchase of a wind farm. It has already bought or developed 730 megawatts of wind capacity.

DEGS started its first solar project this year, purchasing a 14-megawatt solar farm that’s in development near Austin, Texas. DEGS also has an agreement with China’s ENN Group to jointly develop solar projects in the United States. ENN is not a partner in the Austin or Shelby projects.

Source: Charlotte Business Journal

Charlotte’s Atherton Mill adds fresh market

Charlotte residents will soon have a new venue for fresh local produce, with the opening of Atherton Market on May 15.

It will be housed in the former Charlotte Trolley Barn near the corner of South Boulevard and Tremont Avenue in South End.

The market, at 2104 South Blvd., will feature local and regional items such as fresh meat and produce, baked breads, pasta, flowers, spices, condiments, beverages and handmade goods. In addition, the facility will offer green-living educational sessions, arts and entertainment, and cooking demonstrations from local chefs.

“Historic South End has experienced remarkable residential growth and is becoming a vibrant urban neighborhood,” says Darlene Heater, vice president of neighborhood development for Charlotte Center City Partners. “We have heard from many of our new South Enders of their desire for a fresh foods produce market within walking distance of their homes.”

The market will initially be open from 11:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. on Tuesdays and from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturdays. It will expand its hours at a later date.

The market will be part of Atherton Mill, a 9.5-acre cluster of South Boulevard buildings with 100,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space. Edens & Avant of Columbia, S.C., bought the complex in 2006 for $20 million.

Source: Charlotte Business Journal

Gov. Perdue calls for $95M North Carolina Mobility Fund to help N.C. DOT

In an important funding development for the cash-strapped N.C. Department of Transportation, Gov. Bev Perdue’s new budget calls for the creation of a $95 million N.C. Mobility Fund.

N.C. DOT Chief Financial Officer Mark Foster says the proposed fund would pay for major transportation projects of statewide significance. Money for the mobility fund would come from two sources: increased fees from the department’s Division of Motor Vehicles and a phase-out of transfers that are made annually from the Highway Trust Fund to the state’s general fund.

“Clearly the state has probably needed something like this for quite a while,” Foster says. “We’re excited. It’s the right thing for the state.”
The proposal would raise DMV registration fees $5 to $6. Currently, registration fees for the average passenger vehicle in North Carolina cost $28. While the fee increases would account for the majority of the fund, about $22 million of the $95 million would come from a phased elimination of the annual transfer from the Highway Trust Fund to the general fund. Roughly $72 million is transferred each year.

The mobility fund could be used for many types of transportation projects, including highways, bridges, ports and transit projects. The fund would start out being used as a pay-as-you-go fund but also could be used to back bonds as well.

If the N.C. General Assembly approves the budget proposal, N.C. DOT plans to use money from the fund’s first couple of years to help pay for the $330 million Yadkin River Bridge project in Cabarrus and Rowan counties. After that, Foster says it “remains to be seen” who would choose how the fund’s revenue is used. But he notes a logistics task force created by the governor last year is one possibility.

It wasn’t immediately clear how Perdue’s proposed N.C. Mobility Fund would affect other major highway projects in the Charlotte region, such as the completion of Interstate 485.

Late last year, the governor pledged to complete I-485 by using a plan called design-build-finance.

Contracts and bids are under way for the $540 million completion of the outerbelt, with completion anticipated in three to four years. A contract is expected late next month for the $185 million final section of the beltway, with related interchanges ($155 million) and a widening of Interstate 85 in Cabarrus County ($200 million) following soon after. A $170 million conversion of parts of Independence Boulevard at Albemarle Road is to be contracted in July 2012.

According to the governor’s budget, N.C. DOT will bring in $3.8 billion in revenue in the fiscal 2010-11. About $1 billion of that would come from the federal government, with the rest coming from the state.

Source: Charlotte Business Journal

Michelin to add 74 jobs in Stanly County

Michelin North America Inc. will invest $11.3 million to expand its Stanly County operations, adding 74 jobs in Norwood over the next three years.

The company plans to add tire-retread production capabilities to better serve commercial, military and general aviation customers.

Salaries will vary by job function, but the average annual wage for the new jobs will be $35,784, excluding benefits. The average annual wage in Stanly County is $28,288.

Greenville, S.C.-based Michelin North America employs more than 600 workers in North Carolina at facilities in Salisbury, Norwood and Asheboro. The company designs, manufactures and sells tires for airplanes, automobiles, bicycles, farm equipment, trucks, motorcycles and the space shuttle.

The Norwood expansion was made possible, in part, by a $620,000 grant from the One North Carolina Fund, which is used to recruit businesses to the state.

“Creating jobs is my top priority,” says N.C. Gov. Perdue. “.North Carolina continues to attract global brand-name companies seeking the perfect location to expand and create sustainable new jobs. Our state’s top business climate, skilled work force and superb quality of life make an ideal combination for companies looking to invest, succeed and thrive.”

Source: Charlotte Business Journal

Report: 55,000 Carolinas Jobs From Energy Efficiency

Researchers at Georgia Tech and Duke University say investing $2.46 billion in aggressive energy-efficiency programs over the next 20 years would net the Carolinas $6.3 billion in lower energy costs and create 55,500 new jobs.

The Southeast Energy Efficiency Alliance released the report, “Energy Efficiency in the South,” on Tuesday. It includes a breakdown of the projected costs and benefits for 16 Southern states. Overall, the region could see energy bills reduced $41 billion and 380,000 new jobs created if it invested $18.2 billion in efficiency.

The report team was led Marilyn Brown of Georgia Tech’s School of Public Policy and Etan Gumerman of Duke’s Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions. Brown was a member of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change team that shared the 2007 Nobel Prize with former Vice President Al Gore.

During a conference call Monday, Brown said aggressive implementation of nine basic efficiency policies could hold power consumption essentially flat through 2030. Gumerman said the South could avoid construction of up to 100 new power plants through that period.
For residential power users, the plan calls for stronger building codes, new standards and incentives for high-efficiency appliances, expanded weatherization programs for low-income housing and new standards for retrofitting homes.

Commercial appliances and retrofits would also have require higher standards under the proposal. For industrial users, the report recommends investment in upgrading industrial utility plants, improving industrial processes and much broader use of electricity generated by waste heat from industrial production.

Source: Charlotte Business Journal

Levine Children’s Hospital gets $5.7M for cancer research

Eight philanthropic organizations and families in the Charlotte region have committed $5.7 million to create the Carolinas Kids Cancer Research Coalition.

The coalition will provide funding for the introduction of Phase I and Phase II clinical trials by the Pediatric Hematology and Oncology Center at Levine Children’s Hospital. The 12-story, 234-bed facility is on the campus of Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte, the flagship of Carolinas HealthCare System.

Clinical trials will focus on leukemia, lymphoma, neuroblastoma, brain tumors, kidney cancer, and other bone and soft-tissue tumors.

“The expansion of Phase I and Phase II studies will lead to increasing our overall knowledge and enhancing the capability of our physicians and staff to provide new treatment options for our region’s children with cancer,” says Dr. Leonard Feld, Sara H. Bissell & Howard C. Bissell Endowed Chair in Pediatrics and chief medical officer of Levine.

The coalition’s $5.7 million in commitments includes $1 million from the Alex Hemby Foundation and the Hemby family. That gift is being matched by the Leon Levine Foundation.

Founding members also include The Adam Faulk Tanksley Foundation, The Baby J Ladley Fund, the Quail Hollow Championship, drumSTRONG, 24 Hours of Booty and Brett’s Ride for Rhabdo. Those nonprofits are dedicated to fund raising, education and awareness related to pediatric cancer.

Levine’s Pediatric Hematology and Ongology Center is one of the children’s hospital’s fastest-growing programs. Along with treating patients for leukemia, lymphoma, neuroblastoma, tumors and kidney cancer, it provides neuro-oncology services and blood and marrow transplantation.

Funding will be used to expand the center’s staff, diagnostic and treatment equipment and support services for Phase I and Phase II clinical trials, which are conducted to test the safety, effectiveness and best approaches for using new drugs and other inventions.

The center’s staff includes eight board-certified physicians with in-depth knowledge of the full range of childhood cancers, offering extensive surgical, chemotherapy and radiologic procedures.

“By expanding our clinical research capabilities, we are assuring families throughout this region that they can receive the latest treatments close to home,” says Michael Tarwater, chief executive of Carolinas HealthCare.

Charlotte-based Carolinas HealthCare is the largest health-care system in the Carolinas and the third-largest public system in the nation. The system owns, leases or manages 32 hospitals. Its flagship hospital is Carolinas Medical Center, an 874-bed hospital in midtown Charlotte.

Source: Charlotte Business Journal