January 20, 2022
In 2021, the Golden LEAF Foundation Board adopted a long-term strategic plan to serve as a roadmap for the next few years. During the process, Golden LEAF fine-tuned its priority areas and created goals for each of these areas. Golden LEAF’s five strategic priority areas are:
- To increase job creation and economic investment in rural, economically distressed, and tobacco-dependent communities
- To improve workforce preparedness in rural, economically distressed, and tobacco-dependent communities
- To increase the value of North Carolina’s agriculture industry
- To improve the competitiveness and capacity of targeted communities
- To have, and be recognized for, excellence in organizational collaboration, innovation, and impact
The mission of Golden LEAF is to increase economic opportunity in North Carolina’s rural, economically distressed, and tobacco-dependent communities. Golden LEAF seeks to increase job creation and economic investment in communities by focusing on projects that create and retain jobs, attract new business to North Carolina, expand industries, and train new workers.
These projects create, expand, or improve business activity in tobacco-dependent, economically distressed or rural communities. Golden LEAF partners with the North Carolina Department of Commerce, the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina, local governments, the North Carolina Community College System, and other institutions of higher education to provide gap funding to assist with job creation.
Golden LEAF measures the success of job creation and economic investments projects through tracking the project’s progress in investment in publicly owned infrastructure; investment of privately owned property, plant, and equipment; new full-time jobs created; average annual wage of new full-time jobs; and business start-ups.
Learn about some of the job creation and economic investment projects supported by Golden LEAF in Randolph, Catawba, and Robeson counties below:
Golden LEAF awards $40 million for transformative project
The Governor announced in December that Toyota will build its first North American battery manufacturing plant at the Greensboro-Randolph Megasite. The Golden LEAF Board awarded $40 million to NCDOT for public road infrastructure, adding to a prior award of $7 million for infrastructure at the site.
Over a five-year period, the Golden LEAF Foundation Board awarded $1,131,257 in funding to support the creation of 288 jobs at two companies located in Trivium. To date, Trivium has secured commitments for $171 million in private investment and 499 jobs from four companies.
Gibson Cancer Center expands medical services that will create 12 new jobs in Robeson County
In April 2020, the Golden LEAF Board of Directors awarded $500,000 through its Community-Based Grants Initiative to support construction costs for a more than $8 million expansion project at the Gibson Cancer Center to increase access to care and help create 12 new jobs.