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Job Creation
and Economic
Investment

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Golden LEAF funds economic development projects that focus on creating and retaining jobs, attracting new business to North Carolina, expanding industries and training new workers. Primarily, these projects are meant to 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, and local governments to provide gap funding to assist with job creation.

Projects in this priority area gather data to support outcomes including:

  • Investment in publicly owned infrastructure
  • Investment in privately owned property, plant, and equipment
  • New full-time jobs created
  • Average annual wage of new full-time jobs
  • Business start-ups
  • New housing units

As well as narrative outcomes including: jobs retained that were at risk without Golden LEAF support; comparison to county wages; job creation in identified job sectors; etc.

Projects are awarded in this priority area through all Golden LEAF programs. Please review the information and links below to determine which program might be best for your project.

Current Funding Opportunities

Open Grants Program
SITE Program

News

Ross Stores, Inc

Funding, partnerships essential to recruiting Ross Distribution Center, bringing 852 jobs to Randolph County

Randolph County’s recruitment of a 1.7 million-square-foot Ross Stores, Inc. distribution center is a powerful example of how long-term planning, infrastructure investment, and strong partnerships can come together to deliver transformational economic development. The project will create 852 jobs and will invest $450 million capital investment.
April 22, 2026
Critical Conversations (86)

Golden LEAF Critical Conversations podcast – How ready sites give economic developers a strategic edge

The latest episode of Golden LEAF Critical Conversations with Scott T. Hamilton, the Foundation’s President and CEO, brings together three leaders driving economic development across North Carolina to answer a critical question: What does it really take to attract new industry to a community?
April 8, 2026
RIverstone Park 2

Infrastructure propels economic growth in Stanly County

Stanly County is seeing tangible returns from a strategic infrastructure improvement at Riverstone Industrial Park. Golden LEAF funding to extend and improve the access road off Brown’s Hill Road transformed both how the park functions and how it was perceived by prospective employers. In 2021, the Golden LEAF Board of Directors awarded $159,034 to extend and improve access into Riverstone Industrial Park. The road improvement helped American Racing Headers locate a new facility at the park, creating 56 new jobs with an average annual wage above the county average and making a capital investment of $4.375 million.
January 21, 2026