SANFORD — Central Carolina Community College holds the keys to North Carolina’s successful future in manufacturing and biotechnology.
That’s according to Gov. Roy Cooper, officials from the U.S. Dept. of Commerce and executives at VinFast. They joined others from across the state to get an inside look at the E. Eugene Moore Manufacturing and Biotech Solutions Center — housed at CCCC’s Sanford campus — last Wednesday. The facility, which is about a 15-minute drive from the future home of VinFast in Moncure, aims to be the employee training hub for the electric vehicle manufacturer when the factory is completed in 2025.
“So much has gone into attracting North Carolina’s first automobile manufacturing facility,” Cooper told reporters. “It would not be wise to just say ‘We’re not going to do anything to help train the employees.’”
VinFast plans to invest $4 billion along with 7,500 manufacturing jobs at its facility in Moncure. The 1,700-plus acre plant will have the capacity to build more than 150,000 vehicles annually when completed. The company recently delayed the originally scheduled 2024 roll out of its vehicles from the facility until 2025.
Along with seeing the facility firsthand, the visit by the governor and other top North Carolina officials was part of a push for state funding for the Moore Center. The facility is still in need of about $50 million for construction. CCCC officials say there is currently a proposal in the N.C. General Assembly for the funding, which the legislature is set to vote upon.
The Moore Center, which will be created from the old Magneti Marelli facility in Sanford, will be a comprehensive workforce development operation — with more than 200,000 square feet dedicated to advanced manufacturing and biotechnology training. The space proposes areas for training, on-demand customized skills training, what planners are calling “soft landing spaces,” and incubator spaces for new and expanding business industries.
At Wednesday’s event, Van Anh Nguyen, VinFast CEO of U.S. manufacturing, said the Vietnamese automaker plans to utilize the facility for skilled workforce training, which she said was an important piece of the company choosing central North Carolina for its project.
“To VinFast, a skilled workforce is everything,” Nguyen said. “These vehicles here today, and many more models in the future, are going to be built by the students trained by CCCC.”
She said future VinFast employees need to be trained for the industrialization skills of the modern world, which may look substantially different due to emerging technologies.
Wednesday’s event marked the first time market-ready versions of the VF-8, VinFast’s all-electric SUV, have been on North Carolina soil. Cooper and Nguyen took a drive in the vehicle together through the Moore Center and onto the streets of Sanford.
N.C. Secretary of Commerce Machelle Baker Sanders also lauded the potential of the CCCC facility, saying it had the potential to lift up North Carolina’s greatest asset: its workforce.
“This also supports one of the governor’s number one goals: advancing clean energy,” Sanders said. “This not only protects our communities and businesses but also our people and future generations.”
Sanders said investments needed to be made in other sectors of the economy — including education — to support the movement of the private sector to boost labor and future employment.
In his remarks Wednesday, Cooper also echoed the importance of North Carolina’s workforce. He said North Carolina is the best state for business in the country, according to CNBC.
“Companies from the other side of the globe recognize what we have here,” Cooper said. “That is why they are here investing in North Carolina.”
He said the Moore Center has the opportunity to be the “epicenter” of emerging industries — biotechnology and clean energy.
The big question mark looming over the advanced manufacturing facility is the funding. Speaking to reporters at the event, Cooper said he was confident about the status of the state’s coffers to make the Moore Center into a reality.
“There is room to make infrastructure investments in facilities like this,” Cooper said. “I’m supportive of it, and I think you’re going to find the General Assembly supportive.”
He added luring VinFast to Chatham County through state and local tax incentives totaling more than $1.2 billion was a bipartisan effort. Cooper said building employee training infrastructure was part of the enticement to come to North Carolina.
That infrastructure will also aid more than just VinFast. The Moore Center, if completed, would have the capacity to train workers for Wolfspeed, Toyota, FedEx and other nearby industries using emerging technologies. Dr. Lisa Chapman, CCCC’s president, said keeping jobs at these companies and attracting future business is dependent on strong employee training.
“We are spread out over a large geographic area, but we’re one college,” Chapman told the News + Record. “If there’s a project in Chatham County that could benefit from this facility, it’s available to them.”
Chatham County Manager Dan LaMontagne said the Moore Center is an opportunity for both Lee and Chatham Counties because of the types of training it will bring to the region.
“This can make sure we have trained workforce,” LaMontagne said. “Everybody needs that. We’re going to be looking for that development for VinFast and semiconductors and so on. We just need a little help from the state to get it off the ground.”
Chapman added CCCC has plans for furthering its community engagement techniques to get more students and community members excited about the job opportunities in the region. This includes additional internship and job shadowing opportunities to help people interested in these advanced manufacturing jobs ensure they’re on the path to success.
Officials at CCCC, VinFast, the Governor’s Office and even the U.S. Dept. of Commerce seem convinced of the benefits the Vietnamese company can offer Moncure — investment, jobs and opportunities abound. Not all Moncure residents are on board, though.
VinFast’s announcement of its delay in manufacturing — compounded with dropping stock prices and the departure of three top executives from the company — has evoked some skepticism about the project among Chatham residents. This concern was especially evident at a recent meeting in the Moncure area where residents said they were unsure if the company would come to the county at all.
On Wednesday, Cooper echoed what top executives of VinFast shared in March: the project is still on track. He said the delay was not an indication that the company was abandoning ship, but rather that its original timeline was too aggressive.
“I feel very confident that with this new plan in place, they’ll be able to meet those deadlines,” Cooper said.
Nguyen said when VinFast first planned to come to North Carolina, the company believed it could follow the same timelines as it did in Vietnam. They’ve since learned there are additional regulatory hurdles to clear in the U.S., she said.
“Our commitment remains very strong,” Nguyen said. “Our commitment to jobs, to this country and to the state stayed the same since day one.”
She said the site in Moncure is making daily construction progress. According to CBS 17, blasting on the site was completed last week.
While he understands the concerns about the potential impact, LaMontagne believes VinFast will be good for the area. He said the Moore Center is only further proof there is institutional support for a project like VinFast to come to fruition.
“It’s a tremendous opportunity for not just Chatham County, but the state in general,” LaMontagne said. “I hope they will embrace the change that’s coming. Change is inevitable across the Triangle area, and if it’s going to happen it’s better to have it planned. It’s going to pay off for everyone eventually.”
Reporter Ben Rappaport can be reached at brappaport@chathamnr.com or on Twitter @b_rappaport