Agenda Package - 03-21-11 - Laserfiche WebLink

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023 0 FRONTIER SPINNING MILLS SUMMARY Frontier Spinning Mills is uniquely linked to North Carolina. It is a legacy company supporting several small communities, impacting several thousand jobs and encompassing multimillion dollar capital investments. The company was founded in 1996. Its roots can be traced even further back in North Carolina history. CHALLENGE Frontiers current challenge is funding a difficult multi - million dollar change in logistics systems and processes. The change is required by their customers and necessary to remain globally competitive in their industry sector. The importance of supporting a major change in Frontier's logistics systems and processes cannot be underestimated. Grants -in -aide would be used to help migrate shipping equipment and systems to an internationally - accepted standard of transport container. This change, in turn, enables increased volumes of shipments from Wilmington versus out -of -state competitor ports. PROPOSAL • A unique economic development grant proposal supporting Frontier would nevertheless be aligned with North Carolina incentive policies and practices. It would be based on a fair and effective return on investment scenario. It would he based on a compelling case for job retention and potential job creation. Equally important, Frontier's change in logistics models would help the Port of Wilmington realize future growth of commerce as a result of demonstrating increased levels of business for shipping lines. With support, Frontier will maintain its competitive position with key customers, sustain production levels and employment levels, and foster a new generation of business at the Port of Wilmington. Without it, Frontier would lose its competitive position and subsequently force a cut back in production which in turn would force the company to cut jobs. The Port of Wilmington would also lose a critical opportunity in its history to grow operations, create new jobs and encourage additional capital investment. Economic opportunities such as those afforded currently by Frontier and its key customers have not presented themselves frequently at the Port of Wilmington; and particularly cannot be expected during a time of recession. Supporting Frontier is a smart investment with a fair and effective "return on investment" scenario that aligns in spirit and policy with existing state incentive practices. Assistance is predicated on three critical priorities: (D Preserving Jobs in North Carolina Communities OO Job Growth at North Carolina's Port of Wilmington • 0 Investing in North Carolina's Economic Engine: The Port of Wilmington