Tuesday night the Wake Forest Board of Commissioners had to rewrite the conditions for a $90,000 grant to defense contractor 3Phoenix the board had approved in June.
Then the grant was to assist in the construction of 3Phoenix’s third building on Capcom Avenue and was approved just a few weeks before the dedication of the company’s second building.
This week, after a public hearing about the grant in which there were no speakers, Mayor Vivian Jones said the company had decided it could not commit to that third building but would commit to hiring 70 employees in the next three years, employees who will probably be paid about $100,000 a year, well above the local average salary.
The town commissioners voted unanimously to approve a motion to pass the new agreement to 3Phoenix for its signature. Commissioner Zachary Donahue was traveling and absent.
The grant is an enticement to 3Phoenix to continue to expand in Wake Forest rather than relocate. The company has other engineering facilities in Chantilly, Va., and Hanover, Md. The benefit to the town come from the additional employees who will help the economy with their need for housing and services.
3Phoenix broke ground for its first Wake Forest building May 2, 2010. The building is used to develop and build submarine mast systems for the U.S. Navy, but the company has several other U.S. Department of Defense contracts.
There are about 90 employees in the first building and only a few as yet in the new building.
It took only 20 minutes for the board to go through a short agenda Tuesday night, after which they went into a closed session to meet with town attorney Eric Vernon for an update about the town’s suit against Heaton, the contractor for the new town hall.
