On October 3, 2024, the Golden LEAF Board of Directors awarded $13 million through Golden LEAF’s Economic Catalyst Program to Wilson Community College for training equipment that will be used to support the location of a major biomedical manufacturing company, Johnson & Johnson, in Wilson County.

Johnson & Johnson will create 420 quality jobs, paying an average annual wage of over $108,000, and make a capital investment of over $1 billion.

Wilkes County in collaboration with Wilkes Economic Development Corporation, is the first county in North Carolina to receive funding for all three Golden LEAF SITE Program phases. Between the Identification, Due Diligence, and Development awards, Wilkes County has received $1,565,000 in support from the SITE Program.

The goal of the SITE Program is to support communities in North Carolina in identifying potential industrial sites for economic development, enabling the completion of due diligence on industrial sites already identified, extending public utilities to, and conducting grading and clearing of industrial sites for which due diligence has been completed.

In February 2020, the Golden LEAF Board of Directors awarded $300,000 through the Economic Catalyst Program to Wayne County for the construction of an access

Golden LEAF President, Chief Executive Officer Scott T. Hamilton attended the recent ribbon cutting for the Crump Group’s Crump Naturals plant in Nashville. Crump Naturals