Approved by lawmakers late last week and now awaiting action by Gov. Beverly Perdue, House Bill 751 offers a new enticement that may help bring companies to new business parks in Pender County and near the border of Brunswick and Columbus counties.

The bill creates “port enhancement zones” within 25 miles of the Port of Wilmington and Port of Morehead City. That designation allows companies that create port-related jobs in low-income areas to take advantage of job-creation tax credits that would normally only be permitted in less affluent counties.

The incentives would only apply in census tracts where the average wage of existing workers is below a certain threshold, said Scott Satterfield, president of Wilmington Industrial Development.

He described the legislation as one piece of the economic development puzzle for the region.

Rep. Danny McComas, R-New Hanover, the main sponsor of the bill, said he expected it would become one of the most important jobs bills passed by the General Assembly this session.

“I would say when all the dust settles, this would be one of the top three I would say, if not the top two,” he said “The magnitude of this, it’s overwhelming.”

McComas said he believed employers would soon start looking more seriously at the region because of the incentives – businesses such as automobile and other manufacturers and distribution centers.

“We need to create jobs,” he said.

The legislation offers more money for every job created in those zones than companies could presently receive if they opened new offices or expanded existing businesses.

Rep. Susi Hamilton, D-New Hanover, said steering the measure through the Legislature was a bipartisan effort to establish a job-creation program for the region that would support the state ports and bring industries to parts of the region that are suffering economically.

“We really believe it will help, over time, attract new jobs to this area,” Hamilton said.

The legislation gives Pender County, which is developing the Pender Commerce Park off of U.S. 421 near the New Hanover County line, another tool to attract new industries, county manager Rick Benton said.

By being in a port enhancement zone, that park can now qualify for the same level of tax credits that poorer parts of the state use to attract new industries.

“We’ll be able to apply those same rates to companies to help make us competitive,” Benton said.

He added that the designation would also give the county a better chance at receiving more and better grants for improvements to water and sewer infrastructure.

“Our commissioners are very pleased to have this tool,” he said.

Benton said the county is desperate for new jobs in industry, as the economy is largely centered around the beaches and tourism, leaving interior portions of the county with few jobs. Attracting new industries would help diversify the county’s tax base.

“There’s just that coastal area,” Benton said. “The rest of the county is predominately a poor county with little industry.”

This summer, Pender is losing about 700 jobs as its largest private sector employer, Coty Inc., plans to shut its doors.

“With them leaving, it just leaves a huge void,” Benton said.

Pender has spent millions of dollars acquiring land for the commerce park and preparing it for development, Benton said.

The new incentives could also attract new businesses to a business park near the Brunswick/Columbus county line, said Rep. Frank Iler, R-Brunswick. He said he was successful in modifying the bill to extend the zone a farther distance to encompass that area of Brunswick County.

Iler also said he doesn’t believe in incentives but instead favors the lowering of the corporate tax rate. “Since we have (incentives), let’s let them qualify,” he said of the properties in Brunswick County.

Officials credited several area lawmakers for getting the bill passed. It was in question until the waning hours of this year’s primary legislative session, which ended late last week.

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Representative Danny McComas tells WECT that the Castle Hayne Incorporation Bill passed unanimously in the house Wednesday night.

It already unanimously passed the senate.

Since it’s a local bill it does not need the governor’s signature.

The issue will now go up for a referendum vote in new hanover county in November.

Castle Hayne last attempted to incorporate in the late 90s. Their current initiative has been two years in the making.

The area needed fifteen percent of all residents to sign the preliminary petition. Out of approximately 1,900 registered voters more than 300 signed on.

The petition then became official and headed to the North Carolina Incorporation Committee.

Castle Hayne’s committee has set up an unofficial town hall at 5233 Castle Hayne Road. The building is owned by Squires Timber and is being leased for less than $800 per month.

The committee says they’ve had strong support from Senator Thom Goolsby and Representatives Hamilton and Justice.

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“I hate to see the governor doing that,” said Rep. Danny McComas, R-New Hanover, adding that Perdue’s veto could extend the legislative session if it isn’t overridden by the House and Senate.

But McComas also said that he expects there will be enough Democratic votes – along with the Republicans – in favor of an override this week to allow the budget to become law.

Several Democratic members of the state House are expected to vote with Republicans to override Perdue’s veto, including Rep. Dewey Hill, D-Columbus. Republicans already have a veto-proof majority in the Senate.

Hill couldn’t be reached Sunday afternoon, but he told the StarNews recently that if he voted for the budget, he would vote to override a veto. He voted for the budget.

Rep. Susi Hamilton, D-New Hanover, said Perdue “did what she had to do.”

She said Democrats promised to protect the economy and education, and that she believes the budget does neither.

“If I was in her chair, I would have vetoed it as well,” Hamilton said.

McComas said Republicans were sticking to campaign promises that they wouldn’t increase taxes and would allow temporary sales taxes to expire at the end of the fiscal year.

“It is no secret that us Republicans from day one promised to let those taxes sunset,” he said.

McComas said tough decisions had to be made in perhaps the worst economic climate since the Great Depression.

“These are trying times,” he said.

Hamilton was featured in a video about the budget posted by the N.C. Democratic Party on YouTube late last week. In the video, Hamilton, a freshman legislator, and Sen. Eric Mansfield, D-Cumberland, talk back and forth about the damage they believe the budget would do to the state, particularly in education.

“They just pass the problems down to the local governments, and those are the communities that we came here to represent,” Hamilton says on the video.

She refers to cuts in state education funding in the budget that would have to be absorbed by local school districts.

Hamilton also brings up the sales tax issue, saying that by allowing the 1-cent tax to continue, the General Assembly could avoid many of the cuts.

“What child isn’t worth one penny?” she asks.

Hamilton also said she believed the cuts to education would impact the state’s ability to attract new companies.

State Sen. Thom Goolsby, R-New Hanover, didn’t immediately return a phone message Sunday afternoon.

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