The State of North Carolina will award PRC industries a $1.7 million Job Development Investment Grant (JDIG). McDowell County will add another $580,000. PRC, an appliance recycling operation, promises to bring 300 jobs to Western North Carolina. Senior Vice President Ray Jonaitis said it would have been impossible to set up shop in North Carolina without the grants. PRC will operate out of the former Old Fort Finishing Plant. The plant closed, along with most furniture and textile manufacturing facilities in Western North Carolina, when free trade made it more lucrative for businesses to set up operations in countries with fewer government regulations.