By Jeanna White

Local and state officials and members of the business community gathered to celebrate Phase III of the SouthPoint Industrial Park in Mocksville as well as the longtime partnership between Davie County and the Hollingsworth Companies which has provided the community with hundreds of jobs and millions of dollars in investments.

Hollingsworth broke ground last week on construction of a 108,960 square foot spec building and three pre-graded building pads in the industrial park on US 601 North, paving the way for continued economic growth in Davie County. This combined 641,000 square feet of additional industrial space has the potential of providing hundreds of additional  jobs over the next five years.

“I would like to thank the community for being willing to invest time, effort, and money into being a true partner in making this park successful in the past and even more in the future,” said Joe Hollingsworth, owner and CEO of the Hollingsworth Companies.” This truly is a partnership, and I want to thank the entire county for their willingness to help us develop their area. We pledge that we will be an even better partner for the next 20 years than we have been for the past 20 years and we’ll keep this thing going.”

Rep. Julia Howard, North Carolina House of Representatives, thanked Joe Hollingsworth for having the vision it took to come to Davie County. “Here we are, a little rural community in the middle of nowhere with a tract of land, but you had a vision of what that could become…We are very grateful that you believed in us and took that step to partner with us. We are approaching the 20-year mark, and I hope that as we reach the 40-year mark another group of people will be sitting under another tent celebrating another expansion.

“You stick with us and we will stick with you because we are proud to be your partner,” she said.

Terry Bralley, president of Davie County Economic Development, is equally thankful for the relationship. “The partnership we have with the Hollingsworth Companies has allowed Davie County to leverage private money rather than risking the public’s money. We’ve been able to focus on what we do best — water, sewer, roads, and infrastructure.

“Economic development really is a team sport, it takes each and everyone of us working together to make these kinds of projects happen. Our representatives in Raleigh along with the elected officials from across Davie County have learned how to coordinate efforts to get things done quickly and efficiently.

“It is a very competitive world we live in today,” Bralley said. “What really makes the difference is figuring out the opportunities and what it will take to make things happen. This community, time and time again, has led by example in terms of finding ways to get rid of impediments to growth.

“We have been very successful in attracting industry and investment into this area to the point that today there are no existing buildings left in inventory and we have an unemployment rate that is one of the lowest in the state at about 3.5%. We can’t stop there. We have to look to the future. We all know that industry is looking for existing buildings because they want to be able to move in within 90 days.”

The Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina (EDPNC) has played a vital role in helping Davie County attract that industry and investment in the area by offering grants for job development, building reuse, and infrastructure and marketing the area to prospective companies.

Christopher Chung, EDPNC CEO, said: “It’s always exciting to see communities take a proactive approach in adding more product in their market, and it’s what often differentiates the most successful local economic development efforts.

“Davie County is fortunate to have great partner like Joe Hollingsworth and the Hollingsworth Companies… Best of luck as you all begin focusing on the really fun part:  finding tenants for those buildings,” he said.