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February 26, 2010: The Intersection of Logistics & Workforce Advantages

Henderson County’s competitive advantages in the automotive sector can be attributed to the quality of our workforce, logistics advantages in transportation and supply relationships, and the lack of unionized manufacturing labor.  Expansion Solutions recognized HCPED recently with a Top 5 Award of Excellence in the Automotive Sector.  Announcements by ArvinMeritor, BorgWarner & Continental Teves emphasize Henderson County as a strategic location for growth and consolidation.  Read more below as we analyze our assets for this sector.

February 21, 2010: Open House & Products Display

On December 17, 2009 the staff and Board of Directors of HCPED held an open house at their new location at 330 North King Street.  The open house celebrated the organization’s transition to a more permanent home.  Don Hallingse and Lee McElrath of PSNC Energy further inspired the celebration by providing a generous contribution towards the building’s renovation – thank you PSNC!  In addition to aesthetic improvements to the building, the facility houses a display area of products manufactured in Henderson County.

February 18, 2010: Henderson County 5th Healthiest in State

The County Health Rankings were released today and Henderson County was ranked fifth in the state in health factors, including health behaviors, clinical care, social and economic factors and the physical environment.

For more information, visit http://www.countyhealthrankings.org/.

February 16, 2010: Semi-Annual Performance Reporting

In an effort to provide accountability to both public and private investors, HCPED closely tracks key measures related to our programs.  We monitor lead generation, existing industry visitations, marketing activities, web traffic and active projects.  These measures correspond directly to our organizational focus on supporting existing industry and marketing Henderson County as a prospective business location to targeted clusters.  Read more below to see our semi-annual performance for FY2010, and year-end performance for the past 3 years.

January 15, 2010: GE Lighting Combines LED and Fixture Businesses to Form GE Lighting Solutions

PRESS RELEASE

 

GE Lighting Combines LED and Fixture Businesses to Form GE Lighting Solutions

 

CLEVELAND — GE Lighting, a unit of GE Appliances & Lighting, continues a reshaping effort designed to better serve customers and enable profitable growth with the establishment of GE Lighting Solutions, a combination of its light-emitting diode (LED) systems operation, Lumination, based at GE Lighting’s world headquarters in Cleveland, and its commercial and industrial fixture group, GE Lighting Systems in Hendersonville, North Carolina.

 

January 12, 2010: Compressed Natural Gas Station coming to Henderson County

By Leigh Kelley Times-News Staff Writer

Area motorists could soon have a new way to fuel up after planners gave the green light to the Henderson County Compressed Natural Gas Fueling Station.

The Henderson County project involves the construction of a CNG fueling station on 3.65 acres near the intersection of Fourth Avenue East and Williams Street, at a county motor pool garage across from the City Operations Center.

December 31, 2009: JobsNOW students in HVAC, Nurse Aid, Healthcare Coding & Machining Prepare for Completion

Blue Ridge Community College is proud to announce the completion of 4 JobsNOW Programs: HVAC, Healthcare Billing/ Coding, Machining and Nurse Aid.

The participating JobsNOW students attended a full plethora of courses in Fall 2009 and will wrap up the program with two (2) remaining courses entitled: Sustainability in the WorkPlace and Essential WorkPlace Skills the week of January 11, 2010.

December 16, 2009: NC Commerce Launches New Sites & Buildings Tool

The North Carolina Department of Commerce recently launched their new and improved sites and buildings database.  A feature of the database is the integration of the existing Economic Development Intelligence System tool, allowing asset mapping and report generation based on site and building locations.  www.ncedis.com will ultimately replace http://www.ncsitesearch.com/.  HCPED is working with NC Commerce IT personnel and our web developer to integrate the search tool into our web site with a local brand. 

November 29, 2009: NC Commerce Preparing New Sites & Buildings System

The ability to effectively market available industrial locations in Henderson County continues to be a vital component of the Partnership’s scope of work.  One of the most utilized functions of the HCPED website is the Sites & Buildings search menu.  NC Commerce has worked hard to integrate their Economic Development Intelligence System (EDIS) with the state sites and buildings platform.  The result will be an improved tool that allows users to identify sites and buildings based on specific search parameters in addition to mapping asset and demographic information.

November 28, 2009: Ferncliff Industrial Park Achieves NC Certification

HCPED received official confirmation last week indicating that Ferncliff Industrial Park has achieved the designation as a North Carolina Certified Site.  The certified site program showcases premium business locations throughout the state that have undergone a rigorous pre-qualification process to ensure they are “shovel ready” for immediate development.  HCPED’s efforts in certifying Ferncliff have been focused on mitigating risks for prospective clients in addition to reducing the time it will take to develop and build on site.

November 27, 2009: HCPED Hosting Open House with Products Showcase

HCPED moved Monday, November 30th to the old Carnegie Library building at 330 North King Street, please update this as our new mailing address (all phone, fax, web & email contact information will not change).  We will be hosting an open house at our new offices on Thursday, December 17th at 5:30 pm and would like to invite you to attend.  The open house will be the first opportunity to view the showcase area for products manufactured, assembled and distributed in Henderson County.  Several products will be integrated as usable features of the building. 

November 19, 2009: HCPED Earns Top 5 Award of Excellence in Automotive Sector

Expansion Solutions Magazine recently announced its Third Annual “Top Five” Awards of Excellence.  These awards recognize economic development organizations which have shown exceptional progress and potential in developing key industry sectors.  Expansion Solutions considered factors including strategic locations, pro-business climate, the investments that have been made improving infrastructure and the availability of buildings and sites in choosing these locations.

November 4, 2009: N.C. tops Site Selection rankings again

Gov. Bev Perdue announced Nov. 3 that North Carolina remains the state with the "Top Business Climate," according to Site Selection magazine. It is the fifth year in a row and the eighth time in nine years that the state has taken the top honor in the annual ranking by Site Selection, one of the nation's premier magazines for economic development.

November 3, 2009: Manufacturing in the U.S. Expanded at a Faster Pace in October

Nov. 2 (Bloomberg) -- Manufacturing in the U.S. expanded in October at the fastest pace in more than three years, a sign that factories will be the main driver of the expansion in coming months.  The Institute for Supply Management’s factory index rose to 55.7, the highest level since April 2006, from 52.6 in September, according to the Tempe, Arizona-based group. Readings above 50 signal expansion.

November 2, 2009: HCPED Prepares for Office Relocation

During the November 2, 2009 regular meeting of the Henderson County Board of Commissioners, a lease was reviewed and approved for the Henderson County Partnership for Economic Development (HCPED).  HCPED will begin minor aesthetic improvements to 330 North King Street, the old Carnegie library building, before relocating in early December 2009.