MCKW
Kesean Green and
Quin Riley play big
roles in the
Bulldogs backfield.
THOMASVILLE
Thursday, September 30,2010
Columnist Marilyn
Taylor discusses
what 'Drives'
people to work.
wwwJvilletimes. com
ilOMASVlLLE i'UBLlC iM^th Year - No. 145 50 Cents
HOMASVIIJ >’C 27360
Officials break ground on 1-85 Improvement Project
BY ERINWILTGEN
Staff Writer
The rain and the damp
ness may have tried to
slip into Wednesday’s
ceremony celebrating the
Interstate-85 Corridor
Improvement Project,
but gathered officials re
mained all smiles, hugs
and handshakes.
After a long joimney be
ginning in 2004, the North
Carolina Department of
Transportation, Gov. Bev
Perdue and local elected
officials broke ground
for the 1-85 project, which
wUl bring comprehensive
upgrades to the corridor
in two parts. Phase 1, led
by contractor Flatiron
Constructors Inc., win
widen 3.3 mUes of the
interstate, replace eight
bridges and create about
200 jobs.
With work alreddy un
derway, construction will
begin in October and the
project is slated for com
pletion in January 2013.
“It’s a beautiful day
to buUd a bridge,” said
Ralph Womble, member
'I have been driving over that bridge for
years. Every time I cross it, I pray that
it's not my car. It's dangerous.' ■
• Gov. Bev Perdue
of the NCDOT. “The I-
85 bridge project is the
state’s top mobility prior
ity.”
Interstate-85 is the bus
iest corridor between At
lanta and Richmond, Va.,
with more than 60,000
cars passing over each
day, and NCDOT antici
pates that number will
jrunp to 112,000 vehicles
daily by 2025. Given how
many people use the
highway updating the
corridor was a priority
not just on a local level
but nationally as well.
“This is a critical proj
ect for the entire eastern
seaboard when you talk
about economic develop
ment and the movement
of freight,” said Pat Ivey,
NCDOT division engineer
out of Winston-Salem.
But besides the high-
volume traffic — and par
tially because of it — a
major reason for improv
ing the corridor came
down to safety
“I have been driv
ing over this bridge for
years,” said Gov. Perdue.
“Every time I cross it, I
pray that it’s not my car.
It is dangerous. Nobody
Ukes it. People worry
about it, and the big ‘if’
is if traffic moves at aU.
The condition is imac-
ceptable.”
The improvement proj
ect wUl widen 1-85 from
four lanes to eight, solv
ing problems with an
overly narrow corridor,
and will straighten the
curve just before the 1-85
Yadkin River bridge, al
lowing travelers to see
See GROUND, Page 6
Wallburg
approves
Project Plus
incentives
BY ELIOT DUKE
Staff Writer
WALLBURG — Manu
facturing is coming back
to Wallburg.
That was the message
WaUburg Mayor AUen
Todd stressed Tuesday
night after town council
members unanimously
voted to approve an in
centives package for
TIMCO Aviation Servic
es, bringing hundreds of
jobs to the area and put
ting a new company into
an empty building.
“This is a great day for
Wallburg,” Todd said.
“A lot of work has gone
into this. We’ll have new
people eating in our res
taurants and shopping in
our stores. This can only
be a positive for the com-
mimity and its future.”
CouncO members
agreed to the economic
See PLUS, Page 12
INDEX
^ • TIMES PHOTO/ERIN WILTGEN
Gov. Bev. Perdue and Kevin Carter, TIMCO s Wallburg Plant Chief Executive, enjoy a moment of laughter in one of
the company s new product lines after the job announcement Tuesday at DCCC
FLYING HIGH
TIMCO brining 500jobs to Wallburg, Davidson County
Weather
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Vito i uu k: 3 5
BY ERINWILTGEN
Staff Writer
The calendar may have read
Sept. 28, but in Davidson Coimty it
seemed Christmas had come early.
Local elected officials gathered
at Davidson Coimty Community
College Tuesday for the announce
ment of TIMCO Aviation Services’
expansion in the Town of Wall
burg. The company, which wUl
move into the former Tyco Elec
tronics plant on Gumtree Road in
Wallburg, plans to Invest $2.75 mU-
lion in the facUity in addition to a
$5 mUlion Investment in machin
ery TIMCO also committed to cre
ate 275 jobs over the next five years
and 225 additional jobs in the next
two, totaling 500 new positions in
seven years.
As one of the world’s largest in
dependent aircraft maintenance,
repair and overhaul providers, the
Greensboro-based company cel
ebrates its 20th anniversary this
year, an achievement to be proud
of, said Kevin Carter, chief execu
tive of the new WaUburg plant.
“That is a great achievement,”
Carter said. “And today marks the
beginning of another successful
chapter in TIMCO’s history as we
announce a partnership with Da
vidson County and with WaUburg,
not just to move but to expand. We
'... We're announcing
a new initiative today
to produce innovative
furniture for the world's
aircraft..'
— Kevin Carter
TIMCO Chief Executive
Wallburg Plant
find ourself today in a region that
is known for producing high qual
ity furniture for the world’s living
rooms, and we’re announcing a
new initiative today to produce in
novative furniture for the world’s
aircraft.”
Known for the past 14 months as
Project Plus to county and town of
ficials, TIMCO wiU receive about
$3 mUlion in Incentives from Da
vidson County and WaUburg com
bined in addition to a JDIG grant
and a One NC Grant from Gov. Bev
Perdue.
“You folks in Davidson County
aught to be turning flip flops, you
shoiUd be so excited,” Perdue told
the crowd Tuesday. “A lot of us re
member about this time last year,
how hard it was when Tyco Elec
tronics just up and said they were
closing down. About 400 folks lost
jobs and very few of them had any
kind of hope about where it was
that they were going to go.”
With unemployment lower than
ever at this point last year. Per
due said that those Individuals
were faced with tough times, as
many have been in the struggling
economy. But things are looking
See TIMCO, Page 6
TIMCO news
comes at
perfect time
for area
BY ELIOT DUKE
Staff Writer
WALLBURG — Timing
reaUy is everything.
In 2009, WaUburg Town
CouncU was in the early
stages of buUdlng its new
town haU when Tyco Elec
tronics announced de
clining sales would force
the company to close its
plant on Gumtree Road,
leaving many without
jobs. A year later, coun-
cU members approved
an economic incentives
package for TIMCO Avit,
tion Services that wUi
bring an estimated 500
jobs to the former Tyco
buUdlng as the new town
haU nears completion
less than a mUe up the
road. With the town haU
paid for and the $25,000 in
incentives not scheduled
to affect the budget untU
2012, the timing couldn’t
have been more perfect
for WaUburg.
“The timing reaUy
worked out good,” Mark
Swaim, councU member
and town finance direc
tor, said. “If this had
been a year ago, and we
were in the middle of the
budding project, it would
have been hard to do. This
is reaUy coming at a good
time for us to slide right •
into it. You’ve got a big
empty buUdlng sitting
there and for us to flU
that buUding in less than
a year, in this economy is
unbelievable.”
Just how much TIM
CO’s move to WaUburg
wUl stimulate the local
economy remains to be
seen, but Swaim feels
anytime more people are
spending money in town
it’s a good thing.
“As far as true numbers
we don’t reaUy know,”
said Swaim. “From a sales
tax standpoint, when peo
ple go to local restaurants
to eat or they shop here,
we’re going to get a por-
SeeTIME, Page 12
Remarkable things are happening here.
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