CCCC takes reins of Moore Training Facility as site work continues
Aug. 13—The E. Eugene Moore Manufacturing and Biotech Solutions Center is now officially in the hands of Central Carolina Community College although work on the facility continues, according to County Manager John Crumpton.
The property, the former Maretti Marelli plant, which was shuttered in 2021, on Nash Street, was purchased by Lee County July 2021 for $7.4 million and is being leased by the college to use as a job-training facility.
"We are very grateful to Lee County and incredibly excited that we were able to activate the lease of the Moore Center this month," Central Carolina President Lisa Chapman said Friday in an email. "The college has assumed the responsibility for maintenance and operation and is working through the design process for the first phases of renovation at the center."
Terraquest Environmental Consultants in Mebane, has been working at the site since early this year to remove hazardous materials in buildings as well as the soil. The work is scheduled to be finished in about three weeks, Crumpton said.
The college plans to renovate two of the smaller buildings with one serving as a training facility for commercial truck driving, Chapman said. The other facility "will support Biotechnology education, training, and resources for our life science industries," she said in the email.
"We will continue with the phased approach with the renovations in the main building which is expected to support industry showcase/makerspace as well as incubator and softlanding space. Programming in the main building will include industrial systems, engineering, computer integrated machining, and welding," Chapman said.
VinFast, a Vietnam-based producer of electric vehicles, is building a manufacturing site in Chatham County and wants to train its employees at the center, Crumpton said. Its facility is expected to create about 7,500 jobs with salaries around $51,000, according to the VinFast website.
The center is named for E. Eugene Moore, a CCCC alumna and CEO of Bear Creek Arsenal, who donated $2 million toward the project.
