Leland eyes more incentives to bring in businesses to key corridors

With Leland’s population continuing to grow largely through retirees in planned subdivision communities, the town is now looking for ways to attract businesses that could provide living wage jobs and support younger residents and families.

The town approved a contract with Elkin-based firm Creative Economic Development to compile a 5-10 year economic development plan and create an incentive policy to attract businesses to its Innovation Park and Gateway District.

The work is expected to take six months and cost $45,900.

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In the more than 30 years since its founding, Leland has exploded from a town of just a few hundred into a sprawling suburb of over 25,000. That growth in recent years has brought in more businesses, but its commercial landscape has been dominated by big box stores and chain restaurants serving mostly self contained communities that cater to recent retirees.

Northern Brunswick Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Dana Fischer said most of the new businesses in the area over the past two years have been service oriented, which typically don’t provide the kind of wages that will attract families. Locally owned small businesses and jobs that pay livable wages amid widespread rent increases have been slower to develop.

It’s an issue that could set the town up for a long term dilemma, as employers struggle to fill positions while the town gets bigger and older.

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The town has tried to mitigate these dynamics by attracting more jobs with competitive salaries, hoping to lure manufacturing and tech jobs though the annexation of the Leland Innovation Park, which provides ample industrial space centrally located near major transit hubs.

The town’s economic development committee identified the lack of workforce development and land zoned for industrial expansion as major obstacles to business growth prior to the Park’s annexation.  In the two years since, there’s been few additions to the site, with some potential tenants even choosing the Wilmington International Airport area over the Innovation Park.

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Likewise, the town’s Gateway District, which runs along Village Road roughly from U.S. 17 to Sturgeon Creek, also offers flex zoning in an effort to encourage developers to reshape the area set to be Leland’s downtown. It too has seen little redevelopment though.

Now the town is looking into adding incentives to help entice potential employers.

Creative Economic Development’s recent work includes a study sponsored by the North Carolina Economic Development Association which surveyed incentive policies from municipalities throughout the state.

The study found most incentive policies were in the form of cash disbursed after five years and based on a percentage of net new property tax revenue generated, usually between 50%-80% of what the company brought in.

Typical eligibility requirements included an investment threshold of at least $1 million, along with provisions for job creation, wages and healthcare contributions. Annual performance reports and repayment of incentives if conditions aren’t met were also common throughout the state.

According to Shallotte Mayor Walt Eccard, the town has a standing points-based incentive policy, but so far no companies have taken advantage of it. Eccard said the wage and reporting components were an obstacle for some businesses who previously applied.

Brunswick County also recently approved an incentive grant for Precision Swiss Products, which last year announced it will move its headquarters to the International Logistics Park at the edge of Brunswick and Columbus counties.

The company will receive $270,000 from the county over three years — in addition to the $1.8 million it receive from the state over a 10-year period — in exchange for investing more than $8 million in upgrades to the site and creating 125 full time jobs.

Reporter John Orona can be reached at 910-343-2327 or jorona@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: Leland studies incentives to draw in higher paying jobs