NC kills tax incentives for 2 companies, while another gets time extension
North Carolina ended job creation incentives Tuesday for two Charlotte-region companies and gave another company additional time to meet its incentive goals.
The iconic New York City-based retailer Macy’s announced in 2022 that it would invest $584 million for a fulfillment center that would employ about 2,800 workers in China Grove. That’s about 35 miles north of Charlotte.
But in 2024, the company changed course. It said it would invest $640 million into the project and create over 1,300 jobs, the Charlotte Business Journal previously reported.
Macy’s celebrated the Rowan County facility’s grand opening in October. But Macy’s still has not fulfilled its job requirement.
Macy’s asked to extend its base period, or ramp up period, to create jobs required to meet its goals, said David Rhoades, a spokesman for the North Carolina Department of Commerce. Macy’s missed its initial promised 116 job target, according to the company’s 2024 reporting year, which is the latest data filed with the state. Macy’s had retained four jobs but had not hired any employees under terms of the grant, Rhoades said.
A company does not have to meet its base period in the first year and can ask for an extension, Rhoades said.
The N.C. Economic Investment Committee on Tuesday approved the company’s request to extend its tax incentives grant. Macy’s extension request was for an additional year.
The state had approved $2.3 million in incentives over 12 years, if Macy’s meets investment and hiring figures. The majority of the approved $51.9 million tax incentives for Macy’s were local. Officials with Rowan County did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday.
No state payments have yet been made to Macy’s for the grant, Rhoades said. “Basically, they just asked for an extension of the ramp up period,” he added.
A Macy’s spokesperson told The Charlotte Observer the fulfillment center will continue to ramp up in phases, “with hiring and operations scaling over time as planned.” The facility will continue to be a long-term investment for both the region and the company, the spokesperson added.
And in its letter to the state, Macy’s said supply chain disruptions led to its facility opening later than planned, which delayed the job reporting for 2024.
North Carolina uses job development investment grants, or JDIGs, as its chief incentive to companies choosing where to expand. Since the JDIG program began in the early 2000s, most recipient companies have not achieved their original hiring or investment targets and do not receive the grants.
At the same meeting on Tuesday, North Carolina terminated tax incentives for two companies: auto catalyst manufacturer Cataler North America Corp., which planned to create 151 jobs in Hickory in Catawba County; and plastics maker Dymax Corp., which planned to create 227 jobs in Monroe in Union County.
Neither company submitted their grant reports for 2024, and neither had received payments under their grants, Harper Buskirk, assistant general counsel for North Carolina Department of Commerce, said at the meeting. Combined, the companies’ deals were worth over $2.1 million.
“If a grantee does not submit their required yearly paperwork that allows us to do our due diligence and audit, then they no longer qualify to remain in the program,” Rhoades said.
Neither company responded to requests for comment Tuesday.
In February, North Carolina officials also ended grants for Atom Power and JELD-WEN after the companies failed to meet hiring and investment commitments tied to hundreds of jobs in Charlotte region.
“The program is operating as designed,” Rhoades said. “It’s performance based and if companies don’t meet the targets as set out in the agreement, they don’t get the state incentive money.”
What Dymax had promised
Dymax said in June 2022 it would invest $46.7 million and create 227 jobs in Monroe, southeast of Charlotte.
Dymax planned to build a manufacturing, warehouse and office space of more than 100,000 square feet. The average salary for all new positions would be $66,343, above the average wage in Union County at that time.
The company makes products like adhesives and coatings plus plastics and related equipment.
For its investment, the state Economic Investment Committee approved a JDIG of up to $1.2 million over 12 years.
Founded in 1980, the company’s headquarters is in Torrington, Connecticut. Dymax has other locations in Germany, Ireland, Singapore and Hong Kong.
Dymax will no longer build its facility in Union County and another company has already taken over the space, according to Rachael Holzman, the Assistant Director of Union County Economic Development.
Southern Electrical Equipment Company purchased the building and land Dymax intended to use and will continue its expansion in the Monroe area, Holzman said.
Last year, Southern Electric Equipment said it would relocate its operation from Charlotte to Monroe, creating 71 jobs. The Monroe City Council unanimously approved a $114,000 economic development incentive grant for the move.
What Cataler had promised
Cataler North America Corp. said in December 2019 the company planned to invest at least $42 million to build a 100,000-square-foot manufacturing plant in Hickory, creating 151 jobs such as engineers, IT and production personnel.
For its investment, the company was approved to receive over $1 million over 12 years in state tax grants if it met hiring and investment goals.
Cataler North America is a subsidiary of the Cataler Corp., a Japanese-based firm that operates seven manufacturing facilities worldwide. Cataler North America was established in 2002 in Lincolnton and supplies automotive catalysts for some of the world’s largest automobile producers. In 2022, Cataler had 378 employees in North Carolina.
This story was originally published April 14, 2026 at 3:04 PM with the headline "NC kills tax incentives for 2 companies, while another gets time extension."
