Robeson County
Robeson County, North Carolina is a special place full of hard-working people and opportunity. It’s the largest county in the state and our “big yield” farms are fed by abundant aquifers and the beautiful Lumber River. The ingredients for greater success are here, as our communities are rich in culture, faith, and resources. Our entrepreneurs are proven industry game-changers with a proud, accomplished history in agriculture, textiles and transport.
The county is home to the Lumbee Indians, whom at 55,000 strong, are the largest tribe east of the Mississippi and the 9th largest in the United States. In spite of not having full federal recognition and the associated benefits, they are arguably one of the most successful, enterprising Native American tribes in the country. They have capitalized in banking, construction, real estate and other sectors with perseverance and business savvy.
Robeson County contains the City of Lumberton, fourteen towns, and twenty-nine townships. Pembroke is a bustling college town, as it is home to the University of North Carolina at Pembroke, part of the UNC education system.
With I-95 + I-74 and CSX + Amtrak major railways, Robeson County is the mid-Atlantic crossroads for transit and commerce as it is extremely convenient to import or export from all directions.
New Businesses & Expansions
Robeson County Economic Development Projects.
Champion Homes
Champion Home Builders, Inc. has selected Robeson County as the location of a manufactured housing production facility that plans to employ approximately 385 workers at an average wage of $43,000 (18% higher than median wage of County) in the Town of Pembroke. The company, a subsidiary of Skyline Champion Corporation, one of the largest homebuilders in North America, plans to invest up to $13.2 million at the location of the former Fleetwood Building in Pembroke.
Skyline Champion Corporation, the parent company of Champion Home Builders, Inc., is the largest independent, publicly traded, factory-built housing company in North America and employs approximately 8,100 people. With almost 70 years of homebuilding experience and 40 manufacturing facilities throughout the United States and western Canada, Skyline Champion is well positioned with a leading portfolio of manufactured and modular homes, ADUs, park-models and modular buildings for the single-family and multi-family sectors.
I/95-I74 Industrial Park
Robeson County in partnership with the City of Lumberton have partnered to develop a 215 acre tract of land with direct access to both Interstates. The City and County were awarded a $3,700,000 grant to develop the park infrastructure, $250,000 in Golden Leaf funds for water and sewer infrastructure, and $350,000 in DOT funding for ingress and egress for park. Park can host approximately 1.8 million sq/ft of Industrial Space and will have a complete host infrastructure including water, sewer, natural gas, fiber, and a water tower for fire protection.
Elkay Distribution
Elkay Manufacturing, a leading producer of sinks and water delivery products, will build a new distribution and manufacturing facility in Lumberton. The company’s decision means it will be the first tenant in a new industrial park in Lumberton, the I74/I95 Industrial Park. We’ve been referring to this as Project Mt. St. Helens. The Elkay project will create and retain 48 jobs (over 2 years) The Company will make an investment of at least $42.5 million. The company will be creating positions for skilled craftspeople and operators. The company reports it currently has 244 jobs in North Carolina at its current facility in Lumberton. The average wage of the new jobs = $48,960 (27% higher than County Median Wage. Elkay was awarded $50,000 in One NC Funds for job creation and $20,000 in customized training funds through Robeson Community College.
Rempac Foam
Robeson County was approved by the Rural Infrastructure Authority board for a $400,000 Rural Center Building Re-use grant designed to help with an expansion of Rempac Foam, Lumberton, NC. The County will manage the grant in concert with NC Commerce and Rempac. . Rempac will retain 200 jobs and will be positioned to meet its growing customer demands. This expansion creates an additional 40 jobs and will increase base pay for many employees.
Rempac suffered tremendous damage to its manufacturing facility, machinery and equipment, and inventory from both Hurricane Matthew and Hurricane Florence. The City of Lumberton and NC Commerce recently was approved infrastructure funds of (1,000,000.00) to retain jobs. Throughout these challenges, Rempac was awarded the coveted award from 3M (Fortune 100 company) as its “Supplier of the Year” Rempac Foam Cooperation is a foam/sponge manufacturer located in a 250,000 sq. ft. facility in Lumberton, NC. Rempac has been in business for 56 years and has been located in Lumberton since 1999. They produce a full line of scrubbing and scouring sponges for major nationally recognized consumer cleaning brands in addition to private labels. Rempac Foam employs approximately 200 employees, the majority coming from Robeson County.
Robeson County: Approved for a $400,000 grant that will support the expansion of a building in Lumberton where Rempac Foam, LLC manufactures a broad range of flexible foam plastic products. Through this project, the company plans to add 50,000 square feet to the existing facility, create 40 jobs and invest $3,893,185.
Air Production Systems
APS is a dedicated service, part & equipment group providing facility solutions & maintenance support to industrial railroad, Port/ inland Terminals & Department of Defense. They have been in business since October of 2013 and have experienced consistent growth. They have locations in 3 other states for efficiency and access purposes. They relocated their headquarters in Pembroke NC to their new facility located at 4625 W. 5th Street in Lumberton, NC which is near I-95 & I-74. This facility will accommodate their existing and future needs. The total project investment is $2,750,000 of which they received $140,000 from the NC Building Reuse Fund for the creation of 14 new jobs.
Briarwood Custom Meats
Briarwood will be USDA inspected fee-based livestock processing facility that also acts as a slaughterhouse for cattle and swine. Livestock producers will be able to use the slaughter and meat processing service offered for sale to wholesale, or retail customers. The business will operate as a USDA- inspected livestock processing plant located at 2128 Marion Stage Road, Fairmont, NC 28340. The property recently purchased by the owners of the business was once a sewing plant in Fairmont, NC. The total investment is approximately $1.5 Million which include $200,000 from the NC Building Reuse Fund for the creation of 30 new jobs in the first 2 years of operation and will operated two shifts.
Harger, Inc.
Harger is a manufacturer of Lightning Protection and Grounding equipment, servicing several commercial industries. The project relates to expanding the current manufacturing facility located at 12779 NC Highway 130 Fairmont, NC. with an additional 20,000 square foot of building space and make investments in major pieces of new equipment to enable Harger to competitively manufacture additional products within the Lightning Protection and Grounding product lines. Harger’s total investment is $4,258,000 which includes $170,000 from the NC Building Reuse Fund for the creation of 20 new jobs.
Steven Roberts Original Deserts
Steven Roberts Original Desserts LLC is expanding their current operations in Robeson County incorporating a new product line, building a new warehouse, and purchasing new equipment at their existing facility in Pembroke, NC. The expansion will have a new investment of $4.5 million and create an additional 100 jobs. This will take the total employment exceeding 400 employees in Robeson County. For over 20 years, SROriginals (Steven Roberts Original Desserts) has been the premium dessert supplier to all segments of food service and retail ISB. Founded in 1995, SROriginals, LLC is a privately held company owned by Charles Kosmont and Steven Fabos. The company is headquarted in Denver, Colorado with a secondary location in Pembroke, NC.
Serioplast US
Serioplast US LLC has selected Robeson County as the location of a new plastic packaging production facility that will employ 46 workers with an average wage of $45,516 in the Town of Red Springs. The company, the North American subsidiary of Italy’s Serioplast Group, will invest $9.4 million at the location of the former Tredegar building in Red Springs.
“Serioplast Group considered several possible locations for this investment prior to making our choice of Robeson County,” said Carlo Innocenti, chief executive officer of Serioplast Global Services, S.p.A., the company’s Italian parent. “In the Town of Red Springs we found a site that fit our facility needs, had access to strong workforce assets and was convenient to growing North American consumer markets. We are grateful to North Carolina’s leaders, who were willing to work closely with our site selection team in addressing our objectives for this expansion.”
Founded in 1974, privately-held Serioplast makes rigid plastic packaging products for a wide variety of consumer goods. Its buyers include major names in the home care, personal care, and food and beverage industries. The company is headquartered in Italy’s Lombardy region and operates in 14 countries, employing a worldwide workforce of 1,600.
Piedmont Natural Gas, Liquid Natural Gas Facility
Piedmont Natural Gas has invested 278 million in a new Liquid Natural Gas Operation between Red Springs and Maxton, NC. The new facility is state of the art and will provide ample gas production and supply to the region. This facility fulfills our commitment to supply natural gas to customers during peak usage days, when extreme low temperatures create a higher than normal demand for natural gas. The facility will employ 20 new employees for Piedmont Natural Gas. It has the capacity to serve roughly 80,000 homes on a cold day.