A little more than a year after stepping into the executive director role at Cabarrus Economic Development Corp., Page Castrodale has been recognized as one of Charlotte Business Journal’s Newsmakers of the Year.
The CBJ featured 50 leaders who worked to make the Charlotte Region a better place and set the stage for a stronger 2022. While 2021 was a busy year for the Cabarrus EDC, the announcement of a new beverage production hub in Concord, North Carolina made national headlines, and set the stage for a stronger economy in 2022 for Cabarrus County and the greater Charlotte Region.
In July 2021, Red Bull, Rauch North America and Ball Corporation announced plans to invest more than $1 billion in a new beverage production hub that will be built at the former Philip Morris plant. Together, the three companies will create more than 600 jobs at an overall average wage of $57,393.
The former Philip Morris plant campus in Concord had presented an “economic development puzzle” to Cabarrus County leaders since the company shuttered operations there in 2009. The turnaround happened in 2018 when Bootsmead Leaseco LLC, the owner of the site since 2014, demolished the Philip Morris buildings and began marketing the site as a multi-tenant business park called The Grounds at Concord.
This new plan for the former Philip Morris plant presented an opportunity for Castrodale, her team and community partners. Shortly after, Cabarrus EDC began talks with other civic leaders and elected officials to land the beverage manufacturing hub at The Grounds at Concord.
Since the announcement of the beverage production hub, The Kroger Co. has announced plans to build a high-tech customer fulfillment center in Concord where it will create nearly 700 jobs. Greif, Inc. also announced plans to invest $10 million to expand its CorrChoice – sheet feeder operations in Concord where it will create up to 30 new jobs in the expansion.
Cabarrus EDC is the lead economic development organization for Cabarrus County, Concord, Harrisburg, Kannapolis, Midland and Mount Pleasant. In the last five years, the EDC has announced more than $850 million in new tax investment and almost 3,000 new jobs.
