Information on new businesses and economic development in Rocky Mount.

Rocky Mount Brewmill announces first two tenants

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Rocky Mount Brewmill

Speaking to the point that recently saw the city of Rocky Mount NC included as a part of the nerdwallet.com listing of “Cities on the Rise in North Carolina,” the development of new businesses in the community continues, as just minutes up the road from the Belmont Lake Preserve North Carolina golf and retirement community, one of the most anticipated additions to the city’s business community, the Rocky Mount Brewmill was excited to announce it’s first two tenants in the mixed-use redevelopment project.

The Rocky Mount Brewmill is on the site of what was formerly the Rocky Mount Mills cotton mill and century old brick showplace, located on the historic Tar River. The site, which once was one of Rocky Mount’s most significant economic engines has been dormant for several decades and has the local business community abuzz with the influx of interest shown since the Rocky Mount Brewmill project has been undertaken.

The first two homegrown businesses to reside at the Rocky Mount Brewmill were announced this past week, as Koi Pond Brewery is set to become Rocky Mount’s first brewery, and SpringBoardNC Inc., a non-profit organization which is headed by a conglomerate of local business leaders will call the site home and offer space to entrepreneurs throughout the region.

The separate business models and visions of each of these two businesses speaks to the diversity that can be expected at the Rocky Mount Brewmill site, and officials from each spoke enthusiastically about becoming part of the project. Eric Ghiloni, co-founder and head brewer, Koi Pond Brewing Company, noted, “Koi Pond’s mission is to bring great, hand-crafted beer and social responsibility together to reflect the rich cultural heritage of Eastern North Carolina.” He added, “The idea of breweries co-locating in a common space and sharing resources, knowledge and ideas to make everyone better and the customers’ experience unparalleled is intriguing to say the least. We are very excited to be the first and look forward to watching our industry grow right here in Rocky Mount.”

Jeff Tobias, the Vice President of operations for SpringBoardNC Inc. also spoke of the company’s goals at the new site, saying, “Our region is filled with entrepreneurs and innovators with big ideas but up until this point they’ve lacked a physical location or the intensive day-to-day assistance found in a business accelerator.” He concluded, “Our goal is to create a home for networking resources to foster startup activity, business growth, and capitalization so that we can create a thriving ecosystem of entrepreneurs who add jobs to the local economy.”

For more information on the Rocky Mount Brewmill project included current developments and breaking news, visit their website at brewmill.com.

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Rocky Mount Makes Top 50 Most Affordable Cities in North Carolina

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Most Affordable Cities in North Carolina

Most Affordable Cities in North CarolinaIn addition to recently being named by nerdwallet.com as one of the Cities on the Rise in North Carolina, the accolades continue to pour in for the city of Rocky Mount NC, as not only are you discovering “lifestyle redefined” with your decision to move to the Belmont Lake Preserve NC golf community, but your move will prove to be smart financially as well with Rocky Mount being included among the top 50 Most Affordable Cities in North Carolina.

The Most Affordable Cities in North Carolina study was conducted by the renowned real estate website, movoto.com, who looked at nearly 100 different North Carolina municipalities that have a population of 10,000 people or greater. To come up with their definitive list of the Most Affordable Cities in North Carolina, they analyzed the following categories: median home price, adjusted median income, unemployment rank, food costs, utility costs, and other miscellaneous costs.

In calculating the adjusted median income for each municipality in the study, first, the median household income was divided by overall cost of living. Then to accurately reflect the actual earned income of each household that number was multiplied by one hundred. In the area of miscellaneous costs, each of the area’s costs of restaurants, clothing, and entertainment was analyzed.

Listed at number 41 statewide among the Most Affordable Cities in North Carolina, the city ranked much higher in several of the categories regarding affordability, including a top ten placement in the area of “Median Home Price Rank.” Rocky Mount also was ranked in the top 15 for affordability in food/ restaurant affordability and the miscellaneous costs detailed above. The city’s income compared against cost of living ranking also placed 32nd statewide, and certainly factored into their inclusion in the top fifty.

To see the entire listing of the Most Affordable Cities in North Carolina visit movoto.com.

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Rocky Mount listed among Cities on the Rise in North Carolina

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Cities on the Rise in North Carolina

With a significant increase in both the number of jobs and income over the course of the past five years, the time is now to build your dream home at Belmont Lake Preserve NC golf and retirement community, as these factors played into a recent study at nerdwallet.com that listed Rocky Mount among its list of Cities on the Rise in North Carolina.

The nerdwallet study on Cities on the Rise in North Carolina was explained in a blog post written by Maggie Clark, who noted that the entire state has been seeing and upward swing in employment, income, and population, which are the three main factors touched on in compiling the rankings. It was also said in the article that North Carolina as a state saw the second highest job gain in the country last year and that there were more people moving to the state than had left. Personal income state wide is projected to continue to grow throughout this year, while on the contrary, the unemployment rate has seen a continuous drop which is predicted to continue on a downward swing.

Cities on the Rise in North Carolina

Downtown Rocky Mount NC

In analyzing population growth, the working age population numbers were measured for a four year period. Likewise, the overall percentage of residents who were employed during this same time frame were evaluated for the Cities on the Rise in North Carolina rankings in employment growth. For the income growth, the median wage of full time workers over this same span was calculated to arrive at the final ranking.

The numbers supporting Rocky Mount cracking into the Cities on the Rise in North Carolina rankings start with its employment growth, as the city saw a 6.6 percent increase in this area during the period in which nerdwallet conducted its study. An increase in working-age population growth and in median income growth gave Rocky Mount a 23.1 overall growth score, putting it firmly with in the list of the top Cities on the Rise in North Carolina.

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Lower Taxes are Another Reason to Retire in NC

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Lower Taxes are Another Reason to Retire in NC

With all of the wonderful amenities, a spectacular on site, 18 hole professional golf course, and countless programs and activities aimed for those in their retirement years right in town, Rocky Mount’s Belmont Lake Preserve new home community is the perfect spot to settle into your new home. As if all of that isn’t enough, the state of North Carolina has introduced a reform deal over the course of the past year and a half that has had an immediate positive impact on the rates for retirees and will continue to benefit them for years to come, thus, Lower Taxes are Another Reason to Retire in NC.

Forbes.com detailed the state’s tax reform deal, which has already began paying major dividends, noting three major ways in which Lower Taxes are another Reason to Retire in NC. The site explained the first beneficial change, saying, “The plan will lower income tax rates to a flat rate of 5.8 percent in 2014 and 5.75 percent in 2015. In the current three-tiered system, the top rate of 7.75% kicks in on earnings over $60,000 for a single and $100,000 for a couple, and the second tier, seven percent rate starts at with earnings of just $12,750 for a single and $21,250 for a couple. Further rate reductions could be triggered by revenue growth in 2016 and 2017.”

Detailing the other ways in which the reform will help retirees, Forbes reported, “The plan will abolish the state estate tax retroactive to January 1, 2013. Currently, North Carolina has a generous exemption of $5.25 million per person that matches the federal estate tax exemption…The plan will continue to exempt Social Security income from state taxation. That was one point of contention during the months of wrangling over competing tax reform bills, with the AARP and other groups lobbying to keep Social Security payouts state income-tax free.”

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