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North Carolina

Business and Industry Guaranteed Loan Program

Outline of Need:
The rural area of Piedmont North Carolina has suffered a significant loss of jobs over the past few years due to changes that have occurred in the textile and tobacco industries. In an effort to assist farm families having a small holding of land like a tobacco plot, The Old North State Winegrowers Foundation, a nonprofit organization, obtained funds through a Business and Industry Guaranteed loan and other partnering organizations to establish a 7,000-square-foot winery in Mount Airy, NC. In addition to a well-appointed tasting room offering a full range of hand-crafted wines, the winery has a large special events area, a fully equipped wine processing facility and a climate controlled barrel room. The foundation purchases grapes grown by some 38 local growers, who have an average of 5 to 6 acres of grapes each, and are members of the Old North State Winegrowers Cooperative.

How Rural Development Helped:
The two guaranteed loans identified above in the amount of $829,000 and $525,000, provided financing to establish the winery and to assist the grower cooperative with necessary working capital to get the winery in operation.

The Results:
The winery has provided farmers, who have a history in tobacco production from eight counties of the State of North Carolina, with alternative agriculture enterprises. In addition, they winery employs 12 people which includes a general manager, retail manager, wholesale manger, winemaker, three cellar assistants and five retail sales associates.

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Outline of Need:
Warm Products, which does business as “The Warm Company”, is a textile manufacturing company which employs 16 people in a 45,000-square-foot facility in Hendersonville, NC. Recently, company owners considered consolidating all of The Warm Company’s operations in its home state of Washington. The Hendersonville area, located in the western part of North Carolina, has historically depended on textile manufacturing to provide employment for many residents. Unfortunately, over the past few years many of these jobs have left the area and the loss of another manufacturing company would definitely create a hardship for the area.

How Rural Development Helped:
A Guaranteed Business and Industry loan in the amount of $1,100,000, provided by Pacifica Bank has allowed the company to open a second production line and maintain a presence in the Hendersonville area.

The Results:
There will be 6 new positions of employment created by the expansion within the next few months. The Warm Company has been in business for 16 years.