SALISBURY – Rowan County commissioners approved a five-year, performance-based incentive for Project Tribe, a confidential manufacturer considering a 280-job, roughly $63 million operation in the county.
The Board of Commissioners approved the agreement Sept. 21 after a public hearing. The vote puts a county incentive offer in place, but it does not mean the manufacturer has selected Rowan County. County documents say the company is evaluating sites in the Midwest and South and is considering an existing Rowan County building. Operations are projected to begin in the third quarter of 2027 if the county is selected.
The county’s economic-impact model assumes $32.5 million in improved real-property value, about $1.42 million in building improvements by the end of 2026 and $29 million in machinery and equipment by the end of 2027. Together, those assumptions total about $62.9 million.
Under the agreement, the company could receive grants equal to 45% of eligible new county property taxes paid over five years. County modeling estimates $717,932 in grants, with Rowan County retaining about $877,473 in new property-tax revenue during the five-year grant period and about $2.24 million over 10 years. The estimates use the county’s current 58-cent property-tax rate and could change with values or tax rates.
The job schedule calls for 35 full-time positions in the first grant year, 206 in the second and 280 by the third. A qualifying full-time job must provide at least 1,600 hours of work a year and standard employee benefits. Grants would be reduced proportionally if the company misses its job targets.
The agreement also includes repayment provisions. If the operation closes or its workforce falls by at least 51% within a 12-month period, the company would have to repay grants received during the previous 36 months.
The manufacturer remains unidentified. The county’s executive summary describes it as an international company that has operated for decades and is publicly listed in its home country. Charlotte Business Journal independently reported the completed incentive approval and said the project would rank third for Rowan County job creation since 2020.