City of Kannapolis

Industrial and Commercial Highlights from 2003-2005 Include:

Castle & Cooke Inc. will redevelop 152 acres on the former Plant 1 site, 16 acres on former Plant 4 site, 6.8 million square feet total.

Haas CNC Racing will build a 140,000 square foot racing facility on 23 acres in the Kannapolis Gateway Business Park. The investment is projected at $16 million, and the facility could create more than 70 jobs over the next several years.

Golden Gate Trailer has invested $4 million into a new headquarters facility in Kannapolis. Moving from Charlotte, the firm currently employs 30 and has plans to expand its workforce to 100 once the relocation is complete.

Gem Marble and Granite, a high-end stone fabricator, picked Kannapolis and built a new 10,000 square foot facility that created 7 –10 jobs immediately and could spur more job creation in the future.

MarkPiercePoole, Inc., moved forward this spring with both a 57,600 square foot industrial spec building and a retail center in the Kannapolis Gateway Business Park. With their decision to move forward and the Haas CNC Racing land purchase, only 5 developable acres remain in the Gateway Park.

Novant Health chose Kannapolis in 2004 as the central distribution point for its eight hospitals. Located in the Kannapolis Gateway Business Park, Novant Health created 35 jobs.

Biscayne Industrial Business Park has seen brisk growth in the past two years. ECS Enterprises, a CNC manufacturer, built a $1.5 million facility that also houses Carolina Transportation Systems. Falapco Plumbing created 60 jobs at its $2 million facility, and the Tiverton Group located to the Park.

Artistic Frame relocated from New York to Kannapolis, purchasing a facility to manufacture furniture.

Stanly Tools invested $12.8 million for a 300,000 square foot expansion of their 625,000 square foot distribution center. The firm created 120 new jobs, 50 full-time and 70 part-time.

Retail Growth since 2003

Kellswater Commons is planned as a 60-acre retail and office complex that will include an $80 to $90 million investment and is projected to create 1,400 to 1,700 jobs.

Winecoff Commons is a new retail center anchored by Food Lion.

Renaissance Square will include a Northeast Medical Center clinic, four out parcels for smaller retail, office and restaurant use, and also include an area for a grocery store.

Childress Klein will develop a 275-acre track for 2.5 million square feet for retail, office/warehouse and industrial businesses . The development is expected to create $140 million in private investment and over 2,800 jobs over the next decade.

Residential Growth

Several residential communities with individual home values from $300,000 to more than $3 million are under development within the city limits. There are also new developments under construction that will target middle-income families, and an additional 2,000 residential building lots are in various stages of planning or development

Small Business Growth

Each month, 12-15 new businesses apply for a business license.

The number of privilege licenses increased by 114 percent between 2003 and 2004.

Between 2003 and 2004, 246 positions were listed with the Cabarrus County Employment Security Commission and most were created by small businesses.

Listings included diverse industries such as restaurants, consulting services, landscaping companies, transportation companies, hotels and health industry jobs.

According to the United States Small Business Administration, small businesses represent 99.7 percent of all employers and employ more than half of all private sector employees. They also generate 60 to 80 percent of new jobs annually.

Tax Base Growth

Kannapolis’ tax base was $708 million in 1984 when the City incorporated.

The total tax base increased from $1.8 million for FY2000 to $2.2 billion for the current fiscal year.

FY2000

FY2006

Total Tax Base

$1.8 billion

$2.2 billion

Sales Tax Revenue

$3 million

$5 million

City Budget

$25 million

$36 million