ROCKY MOUNT, N.C., (December 4, 2025) – Today, the Golden LEAF Board of Directors awarded a total of $7.5 million in funding. The Board awarded $1,200,000 to support two projects through the Open Grants Program and $1,222,460 to support three projects through the SITE Program. The Board also awarded additional funds for Hurricane Helene relief, the Disaster Recovery Grant Program, and the Shell Building Pilot Program.
The Golden LEAF Board of Directors elected Board officers and committee chairs. The officers and committee chairs assumed their roles, effective at the conclusion of the Board meeting.
Board Officers
Chair of the Board – Brian Raynor of Cumberland County
Vice Chair of the Board – O.A. “Buddy” Keller of Lee County
Treasurer – Bobbie Richardson of Franklin County
Secretary – Jeffery Lee of Johnston County
Assistant Secretary – Bobbie Richardson of Franklin County
Committee Chairs
Programs Committee – Ralph Strayhorn of Mecklenburg County
Personnel / Nominations Committee – David Rose of Nash County
Finance Committee – Randy Isenhower of Catawba County
Investment Committee – O.A. “Buddy” Keller of Lee County
Audit Committee – Barry Dodson of Rockingham County
Brian Raynor was elected Chair of the Board, replacing Ralph Strayhorn who had served in that position for the maximum of two consecutive terms.
“The Board is grateful for the leadership, insight, and service of Ralph Strayhorn,” said Golden LEAF Board Chair Brian Raynor. “During his tenure as Board Chair, Golden LEAF awarded more than $141 million to advance North Carolina’s long-term economic growth. He guided the Board through funding for three major job-creation projects—Johnson & Johnson, JetZero, and Vulcan Elements—that will bring thousands of jobs and billions in capital investment. He also supported key initiatives including the NC Ag Leads statewide agriculture strategic planning process, the Golden LEAF Schools rural middle school math initiative, and relief funding for survivors of Hurricane Helene.”
Golden LEAF’s 15-member Board of Directors is appointed by the Governor, the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, and the Speaker of the House. James “Jim” Harrell, III of Raleigh, NC was welcomed as the newest member of the Board at the December meeting. Mr. Harrell was appointed by the Speaker of the House.
Through the Open Grants Program, the Golden LEAF Board of Directors awarded two projects totaling $1,200,000. These projects will support workforce preparedness and agriculture projects.
- $1,000,000 to Isothermal Community College serving Rutherford and Polk counties for healthcare simulation equipment, computers, software, and IT infrastructure to expand high-demand healthcare programs. The state has provided $30 million for construction of a new healthcare training facility at the college.
- $200,000 to North Carolina State University for personnel, travel, and supplies to support the continued development of an automated peanut grading system to modernize North Carolina’s peanut inspection process by replacing manual grading with high-speed imaging and sensing technology, reducing bottlenecks and risk of loss for farmers.
The SITE Program offers resources to help communities identify potential sites for economic development, provides funding to complete due diligence on publicly controlled sites, and provides funding to extend public utilities to publicly controlled sites or to conduct clearing and rough grading of publicly owned sites. The three phases of the SITE Program are Identification, Due Diligence, and Development.
The Golden LEAF Foundation Board of Directors awarded more than $1.2 million in funding for three projects through the Golden LEAF SITE Program in Montgomery, Warren, and Yadkin counties.
The SITE Program – Identification phase provides assistance to a community from engineering and site selection consultants retained by Golden LEAF to help identify potential industrial sites in the community. Yadkin County was selected to receive assistance through this phase.
In the SITE Program – Due Diligence phase, the Golden LEAF Board awarded $120,000 to the Town of Troy in Montgomery County to complete due diligence analyses at the Uwharrie Business Park.
For the SITE Program – Development, the Golden LEAF Board awarded $1,087,460 to Warren County to extend a waterline to the Hwy 1 Industrial Site. Golden LEAF funds will be used for construction, engineering, due diligence, and potential environmental remediation.
“Today, the Board awarded funding for projects that will increase workforce preparedness, strengthen agriculture, help increase industrial site preparation and the availability of shell buildings, along with funding for hurricane and disaster relief efforts, all supporting rural communities across North Carolina,” said Scott T. Hamilton, Golden LEAF President, Chief Executive Officer.
Following the devastation of Hurricane Helene in Western North Carolina, the Golden LEAF Board established the Hurricane Helene Relief Initiative to make funds available for nonprofits working to support the needs of survivors.
The Board approved an additional $750,000 to the North Carolina Baptist Men to continue to support a range of Helene recovery related needs including volunteer support expenses such as volunteer meals, and transportation, tools and equipment, materials and contractors to support home repair expenses, and for other costs to assist survivors, bringing total Golden LEAF funding to that organization to $3,690,000. To date, the Board has awarded a total of $6.1 million through the Hurricane Helene Relief Initiative.
The North Carolina General Assembly appropriated $10 million to the Golden LEAF Foundation to implement the Golden LEAF Shell Building Pilot Program in 2023. The program is intended to provide grants to increase the number of available, publicly-owned industrial buildings suitable for new or expanding businesses, other than retail, entertainment, or sports projects.
The Golden LEAF Foundation Board of Directors approved an additional $3,066,415 in funding for four projects through the Shell Building Pilot Program in Ashe, Columbus, Robeson, and Scotland counties.
- $1,075,000 to Ashe County for support design, planning, site preparation, and building construction of a 15,000-square-foot expandable shell building at Ashe County Industrial Park, bringing the total Golden LEAF shell building funding for the project to $2,500,000.
- $1,075,000 to Robeson County for design, planning, and construction of an 80,000-square-foot expandable shell building at COMtech Business Park, bringing the total Golden LEAF shell building funding for the project to $2,500,000.
- $296,415 to Scotland County EDC for design, planning, site work, construction, canopy, and preparation for a future loading dock for a 45,000-square-foot expandable shell building at Scotland County EDC Incubator Park, bringing the total Golden LEAF shell building funding for the project to $1,696,415.
- $620,000.00 to Tabor City in Columbus County for design, planning, site work, and construction of a 25,000-square-foot expandable shell building at Tabor City Industrial Park, bringing the total Golden LEAF shell building funding for the project to $2,045,000.
The State of North Carolina appropriated funding for the Disaster Recovery Grant Program to the Golden LEAF Foundation to award funds to governmental entities and 501(c)(3) nonprofits to repair or replace infrastructure and equipment damaged or destroyed by Hurricanes Matthew, Florence, Michael, and Dorian.
The Golden LEAF Board approved $1,278,500 in additional Disaster Recovery Grant Program funding to the Town of Fairmont in Robeson County for three pump stations damaged by flooding during Hurricanes Matthew and Florence to support the installation of generators, elevation of controls, and implementation of additional mitigation improvements to protect the pump stations from future storm-related damage, bringing the total Golden LEAF funding for that project to to $1,623,500.
Since 1999, Golden LEAF has funded 2,361 projects totaling $1.5 billion supporting the mission of advancing economic opportunity in North Carolina’s rural, tobacco-dependent, and economically distressed communities.
About Golden LEAF
The Golden LEAF Foundation is a nonprofit organization established in 1999 to receive a portion of North Carolina’s funding from the 1998 Master Settlement Agreement with cigarette manufacturers. Golden LEAF has worked to increase economic opportunity in North Carolina’s rural and tobacco-dependent communities through leadership in grantmaking, collaboration, innovation, and stewardship as an independent and perpetual foundation.
For more than 25 years, the Foundation has provided lasting impact to tobacco-dependent, economically distressed, and rural areas of the state. In fiscal year 2025, Golden LEAF helped create 1,665 jobs, more than $116 million in new payrolls, and more than 4,722 workers trained or retrained for higher wages.
For more information about Golden LEAF and our programs, please visit our website at GoldenLEAF.org.
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