Lee County commissioners have signed off on up to $46 million in tax rebates to chase a mystery manufacturing company weighing a roughly $1 billion investment near Sanford. The company's identity remains under wraps, known publicly only by the code name Project Paragon, even as local governments race to sweeten the deal with tens of millions more in incentives.
The Lee County Board of Commissioners approved the tax rebate package on Monday, according to WRAL. To collect the full $46 million, the unnamed company would need to invest $1 billion and keep at least 1,950 full-time jobs in place, with an average annual wage of about $65,500. The county plans 12 annual payments totaling roughly 80% of the company's property taxes, but only if the company actually builds in Sanford and hits those investment and job targets.
Sanford's city council added its own incentive package worth up to $39.5 million, approved the week before the county's vote, per the same WRAL report. Under that deal, the city would provide annual payments equal to 80% of the taxes the company pays on qualifying new investment, and no incentive would go out the door until the company first pays its city taxes, according to the Sanford Herald. That outlet reports the project calls for an estimated $1.002 billion investment in land, construction, machinery and equipment.
A Job Count That Depends on Who You Ask
Exactly how many jobs are at stake, and whether they're new or simply being preserved, depends on the source. WRAL's report states that Lee County officials and economic developers described Project Paragon as maintaining at least 1,950 full-time jobs already in the county, rather than creating them. The Sanford Herald, however, reports the company projects creating more than 1,950 full-time jobs with an average annual wage of at least $65,528. The two accounts don't line up, and the dossier of public statements doesn't resolve which framing is accurate.
Jimmy Randolph, chief executive of the Sanford Area Growth Alliance, said the project is highly competitive, facing strong competition from other communities around the country, and that local incentives and other favorable factors could still tip the decision toward Lee County. His team has been working the deal alongside the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina and the North Carolina Department of Commerce since May, the outlet's report notes. Randolph has also said the capital investment involved would exceed that of any single project the alliance has ever recruited before.
A Resident Pushes Back on the Secrecy
Not everyone is on board with approving big money for a company nobody can name. Resident Michelle Eaves asked commissioners to delay the vote for further examination, arguing the $46 million commitment deserves accountability to taxpayers. She requested the maximum legally possible transparency about the company, the project, its resource requirements and the protections built into the agreement, and pointed out that residents still don't know who the company is. Under North Carolina law, economic incentive deals are allowed to remain secret, which is part of why officials have stuck to the Project Paragon code name throughout.
Is Caterpillar in the Mix?
The speculation swirling around Project Paragon centers on the three companies that Commerce Department data show employ more than 1,000 people in Lee County: Pfizer, Pilgrim's Pride and Caterpillar. Pfizer's main operations sit within Sanford's city limits, while Pilgrim's Pride told WRAL directly that it has no connection to Project Paragon. That leaves Caterpillar, which operates a Lee County facility just outside Sanford's city tax jurisdiction and announced plans in May to create 600 jobs there — but the company has not responded to multiple requests for comment about Project Paragon, and nothing in the public record ties it to the project.
The North Carolina Department of Commerce isn't offering clarity either. A spokeswoman for the department declined to say whether its economic investment committee was considering state incentives for Project Paragon, saying the agency does not discuss site-location conversations or share documentation before a public site decision is made.
What It Would Mean for Sanford
If Project Paragon lands in Lee County, its capital investment would exceed that of any single project previously recruited to the area, according to the Sanford Herald. The Triangle Business Journal has reported that the billion-dollar investment would add to a string of economic development wins for the Sanford community this year, and that the city could soon land its second major economic development project in recent months. For now, though, the deal remains a bet — one built on incentives, competition from other states, and a name residents still can't attach to a real company.
