Surry Business

When people in North Carolina hear about an economic-development incentive, it’s usually in connection with attracting a new business. However, existing industries may qualify for incentives, too. Ron Leitch, an economic development representative for the N.C. Department of Commerce says a qualifying company may earn $12,500 for each job and 7 percent of all investment […]

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Economic activity in northwest North Carolina warmed up slightly in September, despite job losses as plants closed in Mount Airy, according to the Piedmont Triad Business Index created by Dr. Donald Jud of the Bryan School of Business & Economics at the University of North Carolina-Greensboro. The Piedmont Triad Index was up 0.3 percent in […]

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The public can learn more about Fibrowatt USA, a company planning to build a renewable-energy power-generating plant in North Carolina, when the N.C. Cooperative Extension Service hosts a “community open house” from 4 to 7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 13, at the Surry County Extension Service’s office, 210 N. Main in Dobson. It’s no secret that […]

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The loss of textile, apparel and furniture manufacturing in North Carolina has left the state littered with vacant industrial facilities, but there’s growing interest in adaptive reuse and repurposing of those buildings for residential housing. Landmark Asset Services, a division of The Landmark Group, turned one such building into Globe Tobacco Lofts at 838 S. […]

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For the third consecutive year – and for the sixth time in seven years – North Carolina ranks first in Site Selection magazine’s annual state business climate analysis. Fifty percent of each state’s total score is based on the magazine’s survey of corporate real estate decision makers and 50 percent comes from data associated with […]

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Three days of rain last week moved Surry County into the category of “moderate drought” (D1) on the weekly State Drought Monitor map posted Thursday by the North Carolina Drought Management Advisory Council. More than half of the state’s counties remain locked in the D3 (extreme drought) or D4 (exceptional) categories on the newest Drought […]

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Robin Rhyne, president of the Surry County Economic Development Partnership, is one of four representatives from the Piedmont Triad Partnership who are in the Dallas-Fort Worth area this week to promote the region and attend a conference. The group will meet with real estate and site selection consultants as well as attend the 7×24 Exchange […]

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A new regional consortium is promoting tourism in Surry County and six neighboring counties in northwest North Carolina and southwest Virginia. The first result of this collaboration is a portal web site, BlueRidgeHeartland.com, commissioned by the North Carolina & Virginia Regional Tourism Board on behalf of the Northwest North Carolina/Southwest Virginia Regional Tourism Initiative. The […]

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The 12-county Piedmont Triad area’s unemployment rate dropped from 4.9 percent in August to 4.7 percent in September. “Numbers since January and over the past year continue to remain positive,” said Harry Payne Jr., chairman of the N.C. Employment Security Commission. In the total labor force of 822,313, about 38,500 people filed unemployment claims in […]

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The Gwyn Avenue neighborhood in Elkin, including parts of Millview Road and Spring, North Bridge and Church streets, has been added to the National Register of Historic Places. The long-sought recognition — work on the application began three years ago — may make tax credits available for renovation and restoration work. Being on the National […]

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