Carolina Journal’s Kristy Bailey reports on a sad story out of Lee County that illustrates why government should stop picking winners and losers. How would you like to be Steel & Pipe President Brian McRae, who now faces competition from a business that will open up shop with the help of a taxpayer subsidy. What a shame that a local business is treated this way.
The odd nature of this arrangement initially worked to Steel & Pipe’s advantage. The Lee County Commission in January nixed a plan to provide $90,000 in incentives for the Canadian rival. The county had planned to kick in $51,000 in tax breaks; Sanford officials had considered an additional $37,000 in unspecified incentives.
County Commissioner Linda Shook later told The Sanford Herald that the deal was shot down because it would have given Allied Crawford an unfair advantage over Sanford Steel & Pipe.
In early February, Allied Crawford Chief Executive Officer Gary Stern blasted the locals, saying he would take his $3.5 million investment elsewhere. “As of today, I said I’m not spending any more time on it,” Stern said.
Then on Feb. 16, the Sanford City Council voted 3-2 to support and endorse Allied Crawford’s application for a $480,000 grant from the North Carolina Rural Economic Development Center, under the Building Reuse and Restoration Grant program. The city submitted an application to the Rural Center to assist Allied Crawford with renovations on the Redman Homes Building at 548 Harvey Faulk Road in Sanford. City officials agreed to provide a 3 percent match, as required by the Rural Center. The total project cost for retooling the vacant 122,000-square-foot building, built in 1997, is estimated at $4.1 million.
