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North Carolina House Bill H552

North Carolina 2025-2026 Regular Session

North Carolina House Bill H552 Compare Versions

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11 GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
22 SESSION 2025
3-H 1
4-HOUSE BILL 552
3+H D
4+HOUSE BILL DRH10257-MC-45C
5+
56
67
78 Short Title: Ag Manufacturing Economic Development. (Public)
8-Sponsors: Representatives Reives, Dixon, Penny, and Jeffers (Primary Sponsors).
9-For a complete list of sponsors, refer to the North Carolina General Assembly web site.
10-Referred to: Agriculture and Environment, if favorable, Commerce and Economic
11-Development, if favorable, Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House
12-March 31, 2025
13-*H552 -v-1*
9+Sponsors: Representative Reives.
10+Referred to:
11+
12+*DRH10257 -MC-45C*
1413 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED 1
1514 AN ACT TO PROVIDE FOR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT INCENTIVES TARGETED 2
1615 FOR AGRICULTURAL MANUFACTURING IN NORTH CAROLINA. 3
1716 The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts: 4
1817 SECTION 1. G.S. 143B-437.71 reads as rewritten: 5
1918 "§ 143B-437.71. One North Carolina Fund established as a special revenue fund. 6
2019 (a) Establishment. – The One North Carolina Fund is established as a special revenue 7
2120 fund in the Department of Commerce. 8
2221 (b) Purposes. – Moneys in the One North Carolina Fund may only be allocated pursuant 9
2322 to this subsection. Moneys may be allocated to (i) local governments for use in connection with 10
2423 securing commitments for the recruitment, expansion, or retention of new and existing businesses 11
2524 and to businesses, (ii) the One North Carolina Small Business Account created pursuant to 12
2625 subsection (c) of this section in an amount not to exceed three million dollars ($3,000,000). 13
2726 ($3,000,000), and (iii) the Agricultural Investment Grant Account created pursuant to subsection 14
2827 (d) of this section in an amount not to exceed five million dollars ($5,000,000). Moneys in the 15
2928 One North Carolina Fund allocated to local governments shall be used for the following purposes 16
3029 only: 17
3130 (1) Installation or purchase of equipment. 18
3231 (2) Structural repairs, improvements, or renovations to existing buildings to be 19
3332 used for expansion. 20
3433 (3) Construction of or improvements to new or existing water, sewer, gas, or 21
3534 electric utility distribution lines or equipment for existing buildings. 22
3635 (4) Construction of or improvements to new or existing water, sewer, gas, or 23
3736 electric utility distribution lines or equipment for new or proposed buildings 24
3837 to be used for manufacturing and industrial operations. 25
3938 (5) Any other purposes specifically provided by an act of the General Assembly. 26
4039 (b1) Awards. – The amounts committed in Governor's Letters issued in a single fiscal year 27
4140 may not exceed seventeen million dollars ($17,000,000). Of the amount authorized in this 28
4241 subsection, three million dollars ($3,000,000) is reserved for agreements with local governments 29
4342 located in development tier three areas, as defined in G.S. 143B-437.08, with total employment 30
4443 of 115,000 or less, using the data specified in G.S. 143B-437.52(c)(3). 31
4544 (c) One North Carolina Small Business Account. – There is created in the One North 32
46-Carolina Fund a special account, the One North Carolina Small Business Account, to be used for 33 General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025
47-Page 2 House Bill 552-First Edition
48-the North Carolina SBIR/STTR Incentive Program and the North Carolina SBIR/STTR Matching 1
49-Funds Program, as specified in Part 2I of Article 10 of Chapter 143B of the General Statutes. 2
50-(d) Agricultural Manufacturing Investment Grant Account. – There is created in the One 3
51-North Carolina Fund a special account, the Agricultural Manufacturing Investment Grant 4
52-Account (AMIG), to be used to provide competitive grants to eligible agricultural manufacturers. 5
53-The Department shall administer the program and shall prioritize grants to recipients that the 6
54-Department determines will have the greatest net economic benefit at the regional and State 7
55-levels. In determining priority, the Department shall give preference to a project that satisfies one 8
56-or more of the following: (i) it is sited entirely within a development tier one or two area, as 9
57-defined in G.S. 143B-437.08, (ii) it incorporates, in a significant amount, as determined by the 10
58-Department, practices of precision agriculture, artificial-intelligence-driven automation, 11
59-biotechnology, or a combination thereof, and (iii) in which research and development 12
60-compensation is at least ten percent (10%) of the recipient's annual payroll expenses. Grants to a 13
61-recipient under this subsection must comply with all of the following: 14
62-(1) A grant to a recipient may not exceed one hundred thousand dollars 15
63-($100,000) in any single calendar year. 16
64-(2) A grant to a recipient may not exceed five hundred thousand dollars 17
65-($500,000) total. 18
66-(3) The grant term may not exceed five years. 19
67-(4) The Department certifies that the recipient has invested or intends to invest at 20
68-least five million dollars ($5,000,000) of private funds in improvements to 21
69-real property and additions to tangible personal property in the project within 22
70-a two-year period beginning with the time the grant is awarded. 23
71-(5) The recipient employs, and agrees to maintain for the entire grant term 24
72-employment of, at least 25 full-time employees or equivalent full-time 25
73-contract employees at the project that is the subject of the grant at the time the 26
74-grant is awarded. 27
75-(6) The recipient meets an average weekly wage that is at least equal to one 28
76-hundred ten percent (110%) of the average wage for all insured private 29
77-employers in the county. 30
78-(7) The Department requires the recipient to enter into an agreement requiring 31
79-that the recipient (i) meet performance criteria to protect the State's investment 32
80-and ensure that the projected benefits of the project are secured, including 33
81-employment level requirements, compensation requirements, investment 34
82-amount and time line requirements, and other criteria the Department 35
83-considers appropriate and (ii) repay or reimburse an appropriate portion of the 36
84-grant based on the extent of any failure to meet the performance criteria." 37
85-SECTION 2. This act becomes effective July 1, 2025. 38
45+Carolina Fund a special account, the One North Carolina Small Business Account, to be used for 33
46+the North Carolina SBIR/STTR Incentive Program and the North Carolina SBIR/STTR Matching 34
47+Funds Program, as specified in Part 2I of Article 10 of Chapter 143B of the General Statutes. 35
48+H.B. 552
49+Mar 27, 2025
50+HOUSE PRINCIPAL CLERK General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025
51+Page 2 DRH10257-MC-45C
52+(d) Agricultural Manufacturing Investment Grant Account. – There is created in the One 1
53+North Carolina Fund a special account, the Agricultural Manufacturing Investment Grant 2
54+Account (AMIG), to be used to provide competitive grants to eligible agricultural manufacturers. 3
55+The Department shall administer the program and shall prioritize grants to recipients that the 4
56+Department determines will have the greatest net economic benefit at the regional and State 5
57+levels. In determining priority, the Department shall give preference to a project that satisfies one 6
58+or more of the following: (i) it is sited entirely within a development tier one or two area, as 7
59+defined in G.S. 143B-437.08, (ii) it incorporates, in a significant amount, as determined by the 8
60+Department, practices of precision agriculture, artificial-intelligence-driven automation, 9
61+biotechnology, or a combination thereof, and (iii) in which research and development 10
62+compensation is at least ten percent (10%) of the recipient's annual payroll expenses. Grants to a 11
63+recipient under this subsection must comply with all of the following: 12
64+(1) A grant to a recipient may not exceed one hundred thousand dollars 13
65+($100,000) in any single calendar year. 14
66+(2) A grant to a recipient may not exceed five hundred thousand dollars 15
67+($500,000) total. 16
68+(3) The grant term may not exceed five years. 17
69+(4) The Department certifies that the recipient has invested or intends to invest at 18
70+least five million dollars ($5,000,000) of private funds in improvements to 19
71+real property and additions to tangible personal property in the project within 20
72+a two-year period beginning with the time the grant is awarded. 21
73+(5) The recipient employs, and agrees to maintain for the entire grant term 22
74+employment of, at least 25 full-time employees or equivalent full-time 23
75+contract employees at the project that is the subject of the grant at the time the 24
76+grant is awarded. 25
77+(6) The recipient meets an average weekly wage that is at least equal to one 26
78+hundred ten percent (110%) of the average wage for all insured private 27
79+employers in the county. 28
80+(7) The Department requires the recipient to enter into an agreement requiring 29
81+that the recipient (i) meet performance criteria to protect the State's investment 30
82+and ensure that the projected benefits of the project are secured, including 31
83+employment level requirements, compensation requirements, investment 32
84+amount and time line requirements, and other criteria the Department 33
85+considers appropriate and (ii) repay or reimburse an appropriate portion of the 34
86+grant based on the extent of any failure to meet the performance criteria." 35
87+SECTION 2. This act becomes effective July 1, 2025. 36