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Helene damage triggers layoffs and a lawsuit

E.J. Victor, a high-end Morganton furniture manufacturer, is laying off 121 workers in a downsizing related to Helene storm damages and a dispute with its insurance provider. “This layoff is the result of significant damage to the production facility from Tropical Storm Helene and our inability to rebuild due to...

By Ray Gronberg

November 21, 2024

Conservatives for Clean Energy awards

NASCAR, Walmart, Truliant Federal Credit Union, the Greater Durham Chamber of Commerce, and three state legislators received the 2024 North Carolina Clean Energy Champion Awards. The 10th annual awards were presented by Conservatives for Clean Energy North Carolina and Chambers for Innovation and Clean Energy. They honor policymakers, businesses, chambers of commerce,...

By Ray Gronberg

November 20, 2024

Hurricane bill update part 2

Legislators convened Tuesday to debate hurricane relief and other post-election business, with Republicans floating an omnibus bill that has a wide range of implications implications. The revised draft of Senate Bill 382 includes an additional $227 million for Western North Carolina’s recovery from Hurricane Helene, but it’s the unrelated provisions...

By Ray Gronberg

November 20, 2024

More CHIPS money for North Carolina?

The Biden administration announced on Tuesday that the Department of Commerce and a North Carolina nonprofit are entering talks on a $285 million deal to create a new institute to bolster the U.S. semiconductor industry. The talks between the U.S. Department of Commerce and the Durham-based Semiconductor Research Corp. could...

By Ray Gronberg

November 20, 2024

Hurricane relief update

A joint oversight hearing on Monday left it unclear whether legislators will spend more money on the recovery from Hurricane Florence, or rely on the same agency to deal with housing issues created by Hurricane Helene. Former Rep. Pryor Gibson, now working as a legislative aide to the N.C. Office...

By Ray Gronberg

November 19, 2024

Tim Kent

Sad news from the N.C. Beer & Wine Wholesalers Association, whose board chairman confirmed Monday afternoon that association Executive Director Tim Kent has died. Kent had led the trade group since the fall of 2010, part of a nearly 35 year career as a Raleigh trade association executive. “He’s been...

By Ray Gronberg

November 19, 2024

Wolfspeed’s CEO gets sacked

Chipmaker Wolfspeed’s board is dismissing CEO Gregg Lowe, who has led the company since 2017. The move will result in Lowe leaving the company by the end of the month and follows the board’s Nov. 12 decision to “terminate Mr. Lowe’s employment without cause,” the company said in a SEC filing....

By Ray Gronberg

November 19, 2024

Cabarrus County school bonds

Cabarrus County officials left the Local Government Commission’s November meeting with permission to borrow up to $151 million for school and library projects. But the vote came in two parts, and the approval for one of those parts was more controversial than the other. The LGC was unanimously in favor...

By Ray Gronberg

November 18, 2024

Batteries on Berger’s doorstep

Last year’s debate on casino legalization was mainly a function of Senate leader Phil Berger’s unhappiness about his Rockingham County constituents’ patronage of a gambling den across the Virginia border near Danville. Now, Virginia has given him another border-related issue to fret over. On Wednesday, Gov. Glenn Youngkin and other...

By Ray Gronberg

November 14, 2024

LGC’s cliffhanger on American Titanium

Local Government Commission members narrowly supported giving a proposed titanium factory near Fayetteville access to $250 million in tax-exempt bond financing. The project already has a state incentives package. DaleThree commission members, including outgoing State Treasurer Dale Folwell, voted against the authorization for the so-called Project Aero on Tuesday. It...

By Ray Gronberg

November 13, 2024

Hybrid and BEV market thrives

Given its importance to North Carolina chipmakers like Wolfspeed, it’s worth checking in on how well the EV market is doing. And the answer seems to be … not bad. Analysts with industry watchdog Urban Science say electric vehicles of varying sorts account for about 21.4% of the U.S. market...

By Ray Gronberg

November 8, 2024

Wolfspeed announces job cuts as red ink continues

Durham-based chipmaker Wolfspeed announced that it’s cutting staff in the face of “current market conditions” and the impending closure of a wafer production line at its Durham factory. The move will “result in an additional 10% of roles being eliminated across the global organization,” on top of a 10% reduction...

By Ray Gronberg

November 8, 2024

DOT timetable on Helene damage

While the N.C. Department of Transportation is going to move heaven and literal earth to get Western North Carolina’s road network rebuilt, it might take it as much a decade to close the books on Hurricane Helene. That’s the word from Transportation Secretary Joey Hopkins, who told the agency’s oversight...

By Ray Gronberg

November 7, 2024

S&P offers a forecast for the car industry

Chipmakers like IQE and Wolfspeed that are hoping to make money supplying the EV industry — and the car industry in general — might be in for a bumpy ride over the next couple years no matter who wins the election. S&P Global Mobility said it sees automakers and suppliers...

By Ray Gronberg

November 6, 2024

Chips and incentives

We’ve been keeping a close eye on the Greensboro semiconductor business lately, partly because of the wait for something called Project Electro. The waiting is over after Gov. Roy Cooper announced that IQE will expand its operations in the Gate City with help from state- and local-government incentives. IQE is...

By Ray Gronberg

November 6, 2024