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Michael Jaenicke

Seniors usher in holidays at Duplin Events Center

Seniors usher in holidays at Duplin Events Center

KENANSVILLE — Pouring rain and chilly temperatures did not keep seniors from enjoying the annual Senior Christmas celebration at the Duplin Events Center on Dec. 11. This year, they saw an increase in participation, with 259 seniors in attendance, surpassing last year’s numbers.

The events center was transformed into a festive wonderland as seniors, adorned in their best holiday attire, poured in. The air was filled with joy and warmth as they enjoyed a special time of fellowship.

The event was filled with activities for the seniors, providing them various engaging opportunities.

They had the opportunity to participate in raffles, free health screenings, and access educational resources. The day also featured the popular ‘Ugly Sweater’ and ‘Dressed to Impress’ competitions, adding a fun and competitive element to the celebration.

At 11 a.m., the Duplin Sparklers took to the dance floor, captivating the audience with their dance routines, followed by a welcome message from Commissioner Wayne Branch.

The event also featured a live performance by the Duplin Dulcimers, who entertained attendees with a selection of holiday songs.

“Every year, we enjoy our special events together. It is a time to celebrate, reflect, and renew friendships,” said Melisa S. Brown, Senior Services director. “In the past month, we have transitioned from 3,700 square feet to 11,110 square feet in a beautiful facility. What we have discovered outside of the beauty of the location, is a renewed purpose in the power of connection, specifically with our seniors. The engagement growth we are experiencing is exciting as we continue to increase physical activities and additional programming.”

Brown noted that despite being a small team over the last couple of months, they have accomplished great things together. “I am thankful to serve alongside them,” said Brown.

Duplin Health director receives Exemplary Community Health Leadership Award

Duplin Health director receives Exemplary Community Health Leadership Award

Tracey Simmons-Kornegay, Duplin County Health director, was recently honored with the Exemplary Community Health Leadership Award from the Association of Mexicans in North Carolina (AMEXCAN). Simmons-Kornegay was recognized for her dedication and service to the Latino community in North Carolina, during the 13th annual AMEXCAN Community Leadership Awards at Pitt Community College.

Tracey Simmons-Kornegay was recently honored with the Exemplary Community Health Leadership Award during the 13th annual Association of Mexicans in North Carolina Community Leadership Awards ceremony.
Photo Courtesy Association of Mexicans in North Carolina

The ceremony highlighted the exceptional contributions of leaders and organizations who worked tirelessly for their communities, recognizing their outstanding efforts in advocacy, education, health, arts, culture, community resilience, and binational work.

“I am honored to be a recipient of The Association of Mexicans in North Carolina, Inc. (AMEXCAN)’s Exemplary Community Health Leadership Award. This recognition is a testament to our dedicated collective efforts and support to making a healthier difference together,” said Simmons-Kornegay.

During the event, Juvencio Rocha Peralta, executive director of AMEXCAN, highlighted the importance of recognizing the efforts of those who dedicate their lives to social and cultural development.

The organization noted that the recognition is a small token of their gratitude to those who, with their work, inspire and strengthen the Latino community and that each awardee represented an example of dedication and resilience.

AMEXCAN highlighted that the ceremony not only celebrated the honorees’ work but also served as a reminder of the transformative power of volunteerism and community leadership.

The special celebration concluded with a renewed commitment to promoting social justice, community development, and the preservation of the Latino community’s cultural roots.

County commissioners approve Health Department, DSS consolidation

County commissioners approve Health Department, DSS consolidation

KENANSVILLE — The Board of County Commissioners approved a resolution to create a consolidated Health and Human Services Agency and exercise its powers to assume control of the activities of a consolidated human services board on Monday night.

This action will dissolve the Social Services Board and the Board of Health, forming a new consolidated Human Services Board. The Board of Commissioners will retain all responsibilities and establish an advisory committee. 

A Health and Human Services director will manage the new agency. Chairman Dexter Edwards told Duplin Journal that the next step is advertising the new position.

He also explained that the current directors will remain in place. “The intent is not to change them,” said Edwards. “Same way with the boards. It’s the intent of consolidating the boards with the same people.”

“They will still be making decisions, advising, and running their programs just like they’ve been,” said Edwards. 

He also confirmed that salaries will remain unchanged; both directors will be under the supervision of the consolidated department director. As for departmental budgets, Edwards shared that they “will be reviewed through the county, but at this point, not looking to make any changes or cuts.”

County Manager Bryan Miller told Duplin Journal that he didn’t expect a big change in the budget for each department.

“I do expect to see some savings over time, but initially, we won’t see a budgetary impact at all,” Miller said, adding that the next step is to appoint Jessica Helms as the interim director. 

“She currently serves as our deputy finance director, but she’ll just kind of hold down the fort and the position until we can post and hire,” said Miller, adding that they will put together an interview panel, and he would like to have both directors on it to help in the recruiting process.

Miller also shared that anyone can apply for the job and that the main goal is to find the most qualified person.

“We’re going to move forward with the process. I hope as many local people as can apply, but really, we have a fiduciary responsibility to make sure we hire the best person for the job, and I’m going to make sure that happens — my interview panel will make sure that happens.”

Miller also shared that with the commissioners serving on the Consolidated Health Human Services Board will have to receive some training.

“The Advisory Board has to have the same makeup as the current Board of Health,” said Miller. “Those same positions will be required for the Advisory Board, and then our most important qualification, county residents that receive services. So we want to make sure that those folks, our county residents, are always represented on that board.”

During the meeting, Miller recommended that the new board include DSS board members and that both boards work together as one.

In other business

Paramedic James Michael Miller and EMT Kassi Turnage received the EMS Life Saver Award for their roles in successfully resuscitating a 16-year-old victim of sudden cardiac arrest. Miller and Turnage were recognized during the Dec. 16 Board of County Commissioners meeting. Photo Ena Sellers / Duplin Journal
  • Paramedic James Michael Miller and EMT Kassi Turnage were honored with the EMS Life Saver Award for their roles in successfully resuscitating a 16-year-old victim of sudden cardiac arrest. 
  • The board approved a motion to accept grant funds from the North Carolina Department of Transportation, Division of Aviation for the construction of a connector taxiway and awarded the construction contract to ST Wooten, who was the low bidder at $1,100,675. The NC DOT DOA provided 90% of the grant funding for the taxiway construction.
Smithfield Foods hosts drive-thru food distribution event in Kenansville

Smithfield Foods hosts drive-thru food distribution event in Kenansville

KENANSVILLE — The Christmas season will be a little easier for many local citizens, thanks to a food distribution event held Friday, Dec. 13, at the Duplin Events Center. Smithfield Foods, in partnership with Food Lion, the Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina, and Second Harvest Food Bank of Southeastern North Carolina, distributed 1,000 Christmas meals as part of a drive-thru event.

Each household received one Smithfield hickory-smoked spiral ham, along with potatoes, stuffing mix, cornbread mix, and two cans of corn and two cans of beans from Food Lion.

“Although it is a cool morning here in eastern North Carolina in Duplin County, we’re about to do some great work in warming hearts and homes for our neighbors that are in need during this holiday season,” said Steve Evans, Smithfield’s vice president of community involvement. “We know that food insecurity is an issue throughout the year, but it becomes considerably more relevant and prevalent around the holidays, when people are gathering and they don’t have all the basic necessities to fill the gaps.”

One in seven North Carolinians are unsure where their next meal is coming from, according to Carter Crain, vice president of food procurement for the Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina. “We want to alleviate that as much as we can, with partnerships like Food Lion and Smithfield. We’re not just here for the holidays. Thank you for the partnerships all year-round.”

Friday’s event was part of Smithfield’s Helping Hungry Homes program, said president of hog production Kraig Westerbeek. “It’s fitting that we kick off the holiday season with this event in southeastern North Carolina, which is the home of Smithfield hog production operations and many of our production facilities,” he said. “Smithfield hickory-smoked spiral hams are a classic centerpiece item for many of us on our holiday table or special occasions. If they’re not, they should be. They’re fantastic. But we’re just really glad we’re able to share this traditional cut with our neighbors. As an American food company, with deep roots here in Duplin County, feeding people is what we do best, and it’s a key part in supporting the places we call home like here in Duplin and Sampson counties.”

Westerbeek added that since 2008, the Helping Hungry Homes program has provided hundreds of millions of servings of protein to food banks throughout all 50 states.

County Commissioner Elwood Garner, who’s also a partner grower with Smithfield, also thanked all of the organizations who helped to make the food distribution happen. “I hope one of these hams came off of my farm,” he said. “It is a great honor from a county commissioner standpoint to have the relationship we have with Smithfield here in Duplin County. Agriculture is a huge part of what we do; it’s the number one industry here in North Carolina and it’s the number one industry in Duplin County. It’s great to be a part of it.”

Cabinet maker bringing $6.7 million investment, 42 jobs to Wallace

WALLACE — An international corporation announced plans last week to locate its East Coast assembly and manufacturing facility in Wallace, bringing an investment of $6.7 million and initially 42 new jobs to town. Local officials say the potential is there for up to 500 jobs in the future.

Governor Roy Cooper made the announcement on Thursday, Dec. 5. “As the year comes to a close, I am excited to announce another great win for rural North Carolina,” Cooper said in a press release. “Our resilient workforce, affordability and quality of life are among the top reasons manufacturers are locating to this region of the state and we’re glad NexGen made the decision to locate Duplin County.”

NexGen Cabinets is a division of Honsoar International Ltd, a manufacturer of kitchen and bathroom furniture with a global production footprint in Malaysia, Vietnam, and Cambodia. NexGen will manufacture kitchen and bathroom cabinets for multi-family residential wholesale markets in North, Central, and South America. The location in Duplin County will be the first manufacturing site in the southeastern United States with a 150,000-square-foot space for assembly, production, and distribution operations.

The project has been in the works for just shy of a year, said Economic Development Director Scotty Summerlin. “They will be moving into an existing facility that’s been empty for a while,” he told Duplin Journal. “It’s 150,000 square feet that was previously unoccupied.”

The facility is the former home of JP Stevens, later known as SteveCo Knit, a longstanding textile manufacturer and major business in the town of Wallace from the 1950s through the 1990s. The plant is now known as the Duplin County Industrial Center, which totals 700,000 square feet, said Frank Efird of SVN Commercial Real Estate, one of the key players in bringing NexGen to Wallace.

There are a few other businesses in the former textile plant, including a metal roof manufacturer and a company that upfits public safety vehicles.

“I represent the owners of the Duplin County Industrial Center,” Efird explained. “We market to international companies as part of a global real estate franchise. NexGen was looking at multiple states, and we were able to introduce them to Wallace and Duplin County.”

Wallace Mayor Jason Wells and Wallace Town Manager Rob Taylor said the announcement came as a surprise to town officials, but they’re very excited. “It’s great news,” Taylor said. “It’s great to see something go into the old SteveCo Knit building.”

While NexGen will only operate in 150,000 of the total 700,000 square feet, the company locating its East Coast operations in Wallace is a huge get for the community.

“It’s a win-win for us,” the mayor said. “For somebody to invest that kind of money in our community and to bring their business to the old SteveCo Knit building, it fulfills our vision of bringing that building back to life.”

Plus, Wallace is one of the few towns that has the infrastructure in place to support a manufacturing facility of that size, Wells said. “Wallace is one of the places that can absorb that kind of growth,” he explained. “We’ve got plenty of water, we’ve got a sewer plant that can handle that kind of growth. We’re fortunate enough that we’ve got room to grow here.”

The building will have to undergo some changes to accommodate NexGen.

“We will be redeveloping the building from the top down,” Efird said, adding that the renovations will include new insulation, dock doors, LED lighting and more upgrades.

“It’s a team of people that are able to put together a grant like this,” Efird said. “There is so much competition.”

NexGen is a recipient of a $125,000 performance-based grant from the One North Carolina Fund. “The OneNC Fund provides financial assistance to local governments to help attract economic investment and to create jobs,” explained the press release from the governor’s office. “Companies receive no money upfront and must meet job creation and capital investment targets to qualify for payment. All OneNC grants require a matching participation from local governments and any award is contingent upon that condition being met.”

Efird said that NexGen’s assembly line will likely be complete in the first quarter of 2025, and that the company can start manufacturing shortly after that.

That means that the dozens of new jobs will be available early next year. Salaries will vary by position, but the average annual wage will be $50,462, above the county’s average salary of  $45,722. According to the press release, the new jobs could potentially create an annual payroll impact of more than $2.1 million for the region.

In the future, Summerlin said, the company could potentially add 500 more jobs, as it establishes itself and grows.

“Working with our partners in state, county and local government has given our company the ability to bring jobs and opportunity to the area,” said NexGen COO Tom Boyda. “We look forward to long-term growth as we become part of the community.”

Efird credited Summerlin and Assistant County Manager Carrie Shields with being instrumental in bringing the project to Duplin County. “Scotty Summerlin has been able to work with companies like ours and get projects like this to Duplin County,” he said. “Scotty was instrumental in getting approval and support for this project. He and Carrie have done a super job.”

Summerlin said he and the county commissioners are “very excited” about the project coming to fruition and bringing a much-needed economic boon to the town of Wallace. “We expect more to come,” he added.

“Hopefully,” Wells said, “this kind of motivates other businesses to do the same. Hopefully, they’ll see the interest and say ‘why not Wallace?’”

Duplin moves out of distressed tier one ranking next year

Duplin moves out of distressed tier one ranking next year

Duplin County is set to move to a less distressed economic tier ranking in 2025, as announced last week by the North Carolina Department of Commerce. The county is shifting from Tier 1 to Tier 2, with its economic distress ranking improving from #29 in 2024 to #41.

These rankings are based on an assessment of each county’s unemployment rate, median household income, population growth, and assessed property value per capita, as mandated by state law. The tier designation influences eligibility for various programs, including grant programs such as the One North Carolina Fund, building reuse initiatives, and water and sewer infrastructure grants.

Additionally, tier designations help allocate funds into the Industrial Development Fund – Utility Account, which supports infrastructure improvements in the state’s most distressed areas.

According to the 2025 County Development Tier Rankings, Duplin’s adjusted property tax base per capita for FY 24-25 value is $118,740, which shows a significant increase of $15,717 compared to the previous year.

The percentage of population growth, based on data from the N.C. Office of State Budget & Management July 2020-July 2023, indicates a 1.26% increase. This represents a significant change, as prior years reflected a population decrease of -1.57%. Consequently, Duplin’s position improved from #23 to #42.

Data from the U.S. Census Small Area Income & Poverty Estimates show that the median household income is $51,270, reflecting an increase of $6,121 compared to last year’s data, however the ranking remains unchanged.

The average unemployment rate for the 12-month period from November 2023 to October 2024 is 3.34%, showing a slight decrease of 0.08 compared to the previous year, but the ranking improved by 18 positions.

Overall, Duplin County’s total economic distress rank is #41, representing a 12-position improvement from last year.

At a recent meeting, County Manager Bryan Miller told the Board of County Commissioners that he was going to delve deeper to gain a clearer understanding of the calculations and the improvements made by the county. “It is showing signs that, at least on the surface, that Duplin County has improved their ranking within the state, which is always possible. But we need to understand things a little bit better,” said Miller.

Assistant County Manager Carrie Shields told Duplin Journal that they are pushing back on the tier designation and gathering more information before making further comments.

Each year, counties are assigned a tier designation ranking from one to three. There are 40 counties designated as Tier 1, which are considered the most economically distressed. An additional 40 counties are designated as Tier 2, and 20 counties are classified as Tier 3, which are the least economically distressed.

The above chart shows Duplin County Development Tier Rankings for the last four years. Chart Duplin Journal
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