Business View Civil and Municipal l January 2023

89 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 9, ISSUE 12 As a county located in the Coastal Plain region of southeastern North Carolina, the leaders and residents of Duplin County understand who they are. As Board of County Commissioners.Chair Dexter Edwards puts it, “our main focus is to feed a hungry nation.” That emphasis is backed by the county’s strong presence in agriculture. This emphasis was further cemented as manufacturers steadily left the county overseas in the last two decades. Yet, that in many ways has only made Duplin County stronger than ever. “Our county is made up of wonderful people. We have a mentality that we are here to help feed others and just to help each other in general,” says Edwards, who was recently re-elected to his third term on the county commission and has lived in the county his entire life. “We’re best when as (a community) we are all working together for the cause of all.” Working together has helped the county accomplish significant achievements. On the economic development side, new employers have moved into the country with four notable projects resulting in $25.5 in new employer investments and nearly 300 jobs. The largest such employer is Design Mode Cabinetry, which received an $800,000 grant but invested $13.3 million of its own money. Design Mode Cabinetry upgraded a vacant 245,000-square-foot building into a contemporary, high-tech cabinet manufacturing and distribution center in the town of Warsaw. Other economic development efforts have led to new businesses moving into the county from Cottle Nursery and Cottle Farms known for its strawberry picking excellence, to Metal Specialist, a custom roofing fabricator and supplier. Temperature-controlled logistics and supply chain company eGourmet Solutions, further adds to the increasing diversity of employers in the county. One of the biggest community investments is the Duplin Airpark Development which includes 119 acres adjacent to the Duplin County Airport. The DUPL IN COUNT Y, NC county wisely made the forward-thinking decision to purchase that land many years ago to grow and develop the property. The airport itself is already a crown jewel of Duplin County, with a runway that measures more than 6,000 feet, allowing it to be a landing option for nearly every size of jet. Grants secured to help fund the Duplin Airpark development total nearly $2.3 million, says Economic Development Director Carrie Shields. That includes $1.5 million from the North Carolina State Budget for road construction and development, infrastructure upgrades in and around the airport, and more. Other funding came from the Duplin County Economic Development Commission and the Golden LEAF Foundation, a non-profit established to help manage the funds coming to North Carolina from a settlement agreement with cigarette manufacturers. In all, Duplin County has contributed over $3.8 million to Duplin County Airport projects since 1972. “We’ve had to secure funding to make this vision we have of the Airpark a reality,”