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Interim President of Greenville ENC-Alliance Tom Kulikowski presents during a City Council planning session at City Hall on Aug. 26.
Interim President of Greenville ENC-Alliance Tom Kulikowski presents during a City Council planning session at City Hall on Aug. 26.
Interim President of Greenville ENC Alliance Tom Kulikowski presents during a City Council planning session at City Hall on Friday, Aug. 26.
Interim President of Greenville ENC-Alliance Tom Kulikowski presents during a City Council planning session at City Hall on Aug. 26.
Interim President of Greenville ENC-Alliance Tom Kulikowski presents during a City Council planning session at City Hall on Aug. 26.
Interim President of Greenville ENC Alliance Tom Kulikowski presents during a City Council planning session at City Hall on Friday, Aug. 26.
Economic developers are focusing on land acquisition and buildings that are ready for industry, the leader of the Greenville-ENC Alliance told the Greenville City Council during its recent planning session.
Tom Kulikowski, the alliance’s interim president, updated the council on the public-private agency’s activity on Aug. 26. The council at its 6 p.m. meeting on Thursday also has set a public hearing on the city’s agreement to appropriate $500,000 to the alliance for economic development services.
The alliance is a public-private partnership founded in 2019 to promote economic growth by recruiting new industries and helping existing ones expand. It focuses on industries in advanced manufacturing, pharmaceutical manufacturing, marine industry and food production.
The City of Greenville and Greenville Utilities Commission are the organization’s main financial supporters. The organization also has nearly 75 public and private partners which collectively contribute $700,000.
Kulikowski said the organization had 48 partners its first year, added 11 the next year and 15 this past year. He said none of the private partners have left the organization.
Fiscal year 2021-22, which ended June 30, saw $172 million in capital investment and 837 new jobs, mainly from existing industries that are expanding, Kulikowski said. Among the expanding industries are Thermo Fisher Scientific, Package Craft, Victra, North State Steel and others.
The alliance had 31 active projects where it had discussions with interested industries. Three companies decided the timing wasn’t right and put their projects on hold, another 13 expressed no future interest and one project was lost, an electric vehicle battery manufacturer that selected another location, Kulikowski said.
However, there were 46 projects the alliance couldn’t respond to because there were no buildings in Greenville or Pitt County that met their requirements. Industries that want new facilities don’t want to wait two or three years for a building, he said.
The alliance is forming a land acquisition and development committee later this month to begin exploring locations for new industrial sites. Kulikowski said more land is needed because there are only 55 acres left in Indigreen Corporate Park.
There is also work on a news 100,000 square-foot shell building in Indigreen.
“I think we can all agree the heavy lifting should not be done by us; private developers should want to come in and do this,” he said.
However, there isn’t a track record of shell buildings being immediately snapped up, he said.
Kulikowski said private developers may have an interest in constructing shell buildings in the 25,000-square-foot range.
“I don’t think anyone is willing to do more than dip their toe in the water until we are able to demonstrate a strong demand for shell buildings,” he said.
In the meantime, the Alliance is adapting a philosophy of making “lemonade out of lemons.”
Earlier this year DENSO Manufacturing, which makes small engines for windshield wipers, electric windows and other car parts, announced it was closing its Greenville location in early 2023.
Kulikowski said the building, located in Indigreen Corporate Park just off Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, could “entice some companies that are likely to look in this region.”
City council members quizzed Kulikowski on multiple areas of concern.
Councilman Rick Smiley asked about the future of the city’s business competition program, where entrepreneurs made presentations in an effort to secure an incentive grant from the city. City Manager Ann E. Wall said the city’s incentive programs are on hold while staff reviews their effectiveness and if the incentives should take on another form.
Councilwoman Marion Blackburn asked if the alliance has a set of environmental guidelines it follows when recruiting new industries.
Kulikowski said the alliance expects all clients to be responsible corporate citizens and to have a demonstrated responsibility to employees and the environment.
The group also shares the state’s environmental regulations with clients and lets them know which state and federal agencies are responsible for permitting and licensing in their field. However, the alliance has no environmental rules it requires companies to follow.
Blackburn asked if the group would consider adding environmental guidelines to its process. Kulikowski said that would be a decision for the organization’s new president, who will start in several weeks.
Mayor P.J. Connelly said he believed successful businesses are the ones that follow environmental rules and regulations.
Kulikowski also discussed the council’s desire to see more East Carolina University graduates remain in city.
He said he believes Intersect East, a planned development of new and renovated buildings for offices, light manufacturing, research and development, commercial space and apartments near the university, will provide the “live, work, play” atmosphere young adults want.
“We all know we have a brain drain. We educate them here and they go somewhere else. We have to give them a reason to stay here by being part of new businesses or founding new businesses so they can stay close and stay integrated with that,” he said.
Contact Ginger Livingston at glivingston@reflector.com or 329-9570.
www.Reflector.com 1150 Sugg Pkwy Greenville, NC 27834 Main Phone: 252-329-9500 Customer Care Phone: 252-329-9505
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