County approves funding for Electrolux expansion

CHARLOTTE – About a week after the Charlotte City Council gave its stamp of approval – and more than $2 million – for Electrolux to expand its North American headquarters in the University Area, the Mecklenburg Board of County Commissioners voted Tuesday to approve its portion of the funding.

Electrolux, the Swedish appliance manufacturer, had applied for a $6.4 million Business Investment Grant to help facilitate the expansion. Both the City Council and the county board had to sign off on providing the money, in order for Electrolux to receive any funds. Bill James was the only county commissioner to vote against giving the grant.

Of the $6.4 million that Electrolux is set to get, $4.1 million will come from the county and $2.3 will come from the city. Electrolux will spend $85 million on the expansion, the company has reported.

According to the city’s website, the Business Investment Program seeks to encourage the creation, retention and expansion of new or existing businesses and jobs within the community. The program provides grants to companies based upon the amount of property tax generated by the business investment being made.

There are stipulations, however. A portion of the grant must be repaid if the company moves this investment from Charlotte within five years of the end of the grant term. Actual grant payments are based on the value of the investment as appraised by the Mecklenburg County Tax Office. All property taxes due from the company must be paid before a grant payment is made.

The local Business Investment Grant comes after the North Carolina Economic Investment Committee in December awarded Electrolux a job development investment grant, which is a discretionary incentive that provides sustained annual grants to new and expanding businesses based on a percentage of withholding taxes paid by new employees, according to the N.C. Department of Commerce website. This prevents companies from receiving any funding unless it creates the promised jobs.

Electrolux has said the expansion will add 810 jobs by the end of 2017. The salaries of the new positions will average more than $100,000.

In the expansion, Electrolux will add a second building adjacent to its existing headquarters, at 10200 David Taylor Drive, the company revealed in December. The new building will be six stories and total 375,000 square feet, with LEED certification, solar panels, a roof garden and a courtyard.

“Electrolux is committed to bringing innovative solutions to consumers and to advanced manufacturing,” Jack Truong, president and CEO of Electrolux Major Appliances North America, said in December. “As a leader in appliance R&D, innovation and beautiful design, we’re excited about what this new expansion means for the future of our business and that our continued investment in Charlotte will help bring jobs and drive economic growth.”

The new jobs are in the areas of research and development, marketing, design, engineering, supply chain, finance, information technology, and executive management, the release said. Electrolux employs nearly 1,500 people in the state, including 760 employees and 145 contractors in Charlotte.

In other actions:

• County Commissioners approved Charlotte-based WGM Design as the county’s planning and architectural firm for the proposed comprehensive government facilities plan project. State law requires local governments to announce all requirements for architectural, engineering and surveying services, and requires them to choose a firm with which to work on those projects. The county issued a request for qualifications on Sept. 30 and on Tuesday chose WGM Design as its designer. Charlotte-based Fryday and Doyne is the alternate designer in the event the county can’t reach a reasonable agreement with WGM on a specific project.