Yearly Archives: 2015

Mr. Chairman, as we begin consideration of H.R. 2577, the Fiscal Year (FY) 2016 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development and Related Agencies Appropriations bill, I want to first thank Chairman Diaz-Balart for his work on this bill. He has been open and accessible throughout this year’s process and has been receptive to my concerns and the concerns that subcommittee Members and other colleagues have raised.

Governor Pat McCrory, N.C. Commerce Secretary John E. Skvarla III and the Economic Development Partnership of N.C. announced today that BlueScope Buildings North America will be expanding its facility in Scotland County and creating 115 new jobs over the next three years.

New housing starts, despite an up-and down-market in recent months, are at their highest levels since the beginning of the Great Recession in 2008 while interest rates remain near all-time lows. Even better, North Carolina has resources to make home ownership attainable for moderate- and lower-income buyers.

Thirty-one of the state’s employers received grants this month totaling $246,807 to train 612 workers. The federally funded NCWorks Incumbent Worker Training Grants are reimbursements awarded twice a year to employers who qualify for financial assistance in workforce training.

New housing starts, despite an up-and down-market in recent months, are at their highest levels since the beginning of the Great Recession in 2008 while interest rates remain near all-time lows. Even better, North Carolina has resources to make home ownership attainable for moderate- and lower-income buyers.

The N.C. Department of Transportation has started construction on the Monroe Expressway, a roughly 20-mile toll freeway that will provide an alternative for high-speed regional travel along the U.S. 74 corridor.

Governor Pat McCrory announced today the release of a new NC4VETS printed resource guide and new updated website that focuses on federal VA benefits as well as opportunities for employment, education, health care, housing and personal services for North Carolina veterans

Bluerock Residential Growth REIT, Inc. (NYSE MKT: BRG) (“BRG” or “the Company”) announced today that it has acquired, through a joint venture, a 204-unit Class AA new construction apartment community known as Whetstone Apartments (“Whetstone”) in Durham, North Carolina.

Kannapolis City Manager Mike Legg presented the proposed Fiscal Year 2016 budget to the Kannapolis City Council Wednesday evening. The proposed FY 2016 Total Budget is $59,539,383. The budget calls for a three cent increase in the property tax rate to cover the cost of acquiring downtown properties, investments in economic development and job creation, implementing a strategic plan for revitalizing the downtown, paying for the new City Hall and Police Headquarters, and establishing the Department of General Services

Drawbridge Realty has acquired a single-story, 86,895 sq. ft., Class "A" office building located at 1015 Swabia Court, Durham, North Carolina for $14.75 million. The property is a 100% triple net (NNN) leased to Nimble Storage, Inc. (NYSE:NMBL) and serves as one of the company's three worldwide headquarters locations.

Reflecting on how years of strategic planning and fiscally responsible actions created a tipping point for this year’s budget, City Manager Thomas Bonfield presented the FY 2015-2016 preliminary budget earlier this evening – which includes no property tax increase – keeping the current tax rate at 59.12 cents per $100 of assessed property value.

Governor Pat McCrory, N.C. Commerce Secretary John E. Skvarla III and the Economic Development Partnership of N.C. announced today that Asbury Carbons, Inc. will locate a new facility in Robeson County. The move will create 25 new jobs during the next three years with a company investment of more than $8 million in Lumberton.

Three subsidiaries of North Carolina-based Duke Energy Corporation, the largest utility in the United States, pleaded guilty today to nine criminal violations of the Clean Water Act at several of its North Carolina facilities and agreed to pay a $68 million criminal fine and spend $34 million on environmental projects and land conservation to benefit rivers and wetlands in North Carolina and Virginia.

U.S. Senator Richard Burr (R-NC) released the following statement in response to the meeting between officials from the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, officials from the Veterans Administration, representatives from North Carolina’s elected official’s offices and members of the community. The meeting took place in Greensboro and focused on the ongoing effort to convince the VA to rely on the most recent and credible body of science that confirms the drinking water at Camp

Last night, Congressman Walter B. Jones (NC-3) voted for H.R. 1732, the Regulatory Integrity Protection Act of 2015, which would block the Obama administration’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from putting into effect its proposed Waters of the United States rule (WOTUS). The proposed rule would give the EPA authority to regulate practically any body of water they want, including ponds and drainage ditches on privately-owned land