City stands to gain jobs from Winston-Salem
May 19—HIGH POINT — Winston-Salem's loss would be High Point's gain if Ecolab follows through with a proposed expansion here.
The company is considering moving its operations from its facility in Winston-Salem and its 125 jobs there to High Point North Industrial Center, a long-planned business park on Sandy Ridge Road.
The City Council has authorized $414,863 in cash incentives for the company, which makes cleaning and sanitation products. Ecolab also is seeking $457,445 in incentives from Guilford County.
Winston-Salem Mayor Allen Joines said he was not aware of Ecolab's possible move out of the city.
He said Winston-Salem has a policy to not offer incentives for a company to move across local city or county lines "unless they have said, 'We are moving out (of the Triad) one way or another.' I don't know if that's the case here. Otherwise, we will not engage them with incentives."
Ecolab is considering sites in other states for the project, according to Sandy Dunbeck, director of the High Point Economic Development Corp.
Sharon Ruppel, vice president of global supply chain for Ecolab, said the company leases the Winston-Salem facility and is seeking to move its operations there closer to its Greensboro campus.
If it chooses High Point, it would invest $27.8 million in real and personal property in an 825,000-square-foot manufacturing and warehousing facility as part of the $93 million first phase of the industrial park.
In addition to the 125 relocated jobs, Ecolab pledges that it would create 20 new jobs. It's also touting the site's potential for an additional 200,000 square feet of expansion space to support its growth.
The 550-acre park just won zoning approval from the city. It's being developed by D.H. Griffin Construction of Greensboro, which has about 113 acres of the site under contract to sell for the first phase.
pkimbrough@hpenews.com — 336-888-3531
