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Andrew Vial and watermellon State Fair 2022.jpg

Liberty man repeats title with big watermelon

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RALEIGH — Andrew Vial of Liberty calls his watermelon-growing expertise a hobby.

It’s a pretty good one.

Vial was the winner again in the Great Pumpkin & Watermelon Weigh-off that’s associated with the North Carolina State Fair at the North Carolina State Fairgrounds.

Vial was the winner with an entry of 306 pounds.

There were 22 watermelons entered into the contest.

A year ago, Vial’s 341-pound entry was the largest in the history of the N.C. State Fair.

Vial, 39, puts in up to 60 hours a week tending to his crop of watermelons.

Second place went to Patrick VanBeck of Willow Springs with a watermelon weighing 291.5 pounds. Third place was Christopher Kent of Sevierville, Tenn., at 287 pounds.

Based on information from N.C. State Fair officials, this competition marked the highest average weight for the top 10 watermelons compared to any other competition in the country.

“We have some impressive entries this year,” said April Blazich, horticulture superintendent. “The giant pumpkins and watermelons always draw big crowds, and this year’s fair-goers won’t be disappointed with the entries. They are all photo-worthy.”

The sharp color of some of the pumpkin entries were particularly impressive to some observers.

The competition is open to growers from across the nation.

The heaviest pumpkin was 1,461 pounds. That was entered by Chris Rodebaugh and his daughter Stella from Lewisburg, W. Va. Second place went to Danny Vester of Spring Hop at 1,217.5 pounds, while Stephen Wright from Waynesboro, Va., was third at 1,106.5 pounds.

The competition is sanctioned by the Great Pumpkin Commonwealth.

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Liberty to change water meters

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LIBERTY – The Town of Liberty will replace old, outdated water meters with new digital water meters during the month of October.

Vepo Solutions is assisting with this project.

According to information provided by town officials, the goal is to have most customers’ water meters replaced by Oct. 31.

Once the change takes place at each site, a door tag will be left indicating the switch has been made.

The Town of Liberty also issued an announcement pointing out that utility bills were sent out with incorrect amounts due last week. Corrected bills were to be sent out.

The memo from the town said that customers should have correct balances listed on their online balances.

Water bills for Liberty are generally mailed on the 20th of each month. They’re due by the 15th of the following month.

Town manager Scott Kidd was unavailable for comment early this week.

This week’s town council meeting was to include four separate public hearings related to zoning.

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Toyota tags funds for education to aid workforce

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LIBERTY – Toyota wants to help mold the workforce for the new plant at the Guilford-Randolph megasite.

In what company officials describe as an effort to boost workforce readiness and exposure, donations totaling $1 million will be used to expand education opportunities.

The effort comes to boost what’s called STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts, and Mathematics).

Communities in Schools of Randolph County and North Carolina A&T University will each receive $500,000 to help strengthen STEAM education programs that support career readiness.

This could be a big deal in Randolph County.

Grant funds will be used to support students, empowering them to stay in school and achieve in life. Through a variety of programs, including the launch of Jobs for America’s Graduates, students will receive a range of services, including but not limited to weekend meals, academic tutoring, financial literacy, and mentoring.

“It is difficult to adequately put into words the magnitude of this gift to Communities in Schools of Randolph County,” said Paula Owens, CiSRC executive director. “This gift will enable us to serve more youth in our community with wrap-around services in partnership with our local school systems and equip us to launch a new program, Jobs For North Carolina Graduates, providing specialized instruction and experiences to support increased graduation rates and employability for our students.”

From the Toyota standpoint, the mission is to have potential employees ready.

“We have 2,100 jobs to fill in North Carolina, so better preparing our next generation workforce is critical,” said Sean Suggs, Toyota Battery Manufacturing-North Carolina president. “Toyota is committed to providing resources, time, and knowledge to help build stronger communities in which we operate. We’re grateful for our education partners that share the same passion.”

For N.C. A&T, the start-up grant will establish the Toyota STEAM Lab in the College of Education on the campus in Greensboro. According to a release, the lab will be designed for K-12 learners and provide NC A&T Elementary and Secondary Education majors space to practice teaching with devices and technologies designed for K-12 student use.

It will also provide collaborative mentorship opportunities and projects between NC A&T students from all majors, Aggie Academy elementary-aged students, and the high school students located on campus.

“We are grateful that our friends at Toyota understand that the key to meeting the challenges of the STEAM workforce of the future is to invest in rich STEAM educational opportunities for students today,” said N.C. A&T Chancellor Harold L. Martin, Sr. said. “… It is also a further illustration of what a great corporate citizen Toyota has become in the state of North Carolina. We deeply appreciate their leadership.”

Based on information from Toyota, the company recently announced an additional investment of $2.5 billion in its newest North American facility, resulting in the creation of 350 new jobs. This brings the Liberty facility’s total investment to $3.8 billion, creating 2,100 direct jobs.

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NCDOT meeting draws big turnout in Liberty

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New road patterns are in place along U.S. 421 and Browns Meadow Road near Liberty. (PJ Brown-Ward/Randolph Record)

LIBERTY – There was considerable interest from Randolph County residents at a public meeting held by the North Carolina Department of Transportation to discuss potential changes based on the Greensboro-Randolph megasite.

There were 247 attendees signing in for last week’s session.

“That’s sizable,” said Harris Kay, a communications officer with NCDOT. “That’s what we want, people coming to ask questions.”

Liberty Town Hall was packed with members of the public at some points during the two-hour meeting.

There’s much curiosity about the traffic issue that largely focuses on a corridor of U.S. 421 in Randolph County. Changes are in the works “to accommodate the expected increase of traffic,” Kay said.

All this comes about because of the Toyota Battery Manufacturing operation that’s expected to begin operation in 2025 at the Greensboro-Randolph megasite.

According to NCDOT, the local road system won’t be able to handle the desired access to that area adequately. Construction has begun.

Naturally, residents and property owners want to further understand the impact.

“Most of the questions our group received were about how their property would be affected,” Kay said.

Residents who signed in for the meeting had the option of providing their email addresses. For those who did, NCDOT will email updates related to road construction and traffic in the Liberty area.

Kay said it was largely a courtesy meeting to show the public the status of progress, serving as a follow-up to past information sessions. About 10 representatives from NCDOT were on hand.

Officials with the Liberty Chamber of Commerce didn’t return calls related to NCDOT’s meeting as it pertains to the megasite.

U.S. 421 is an important north-south road for residents. It’s also a preferred route for many commuters to Greensboro. There will be heavy increased traffic during peak hours, so the capacity for more volume is desired.

The North Carolina Department of Transportation proposes to convert three at-grade intersections on U.S. 421 and make other improvements in Randolph County near the Guilford County line.

Under the proposals, the interchanges to be affected are at Colonial Trading Path and Shiloh Road, Julian Airport Road (State Road 2502) and Shiloh Road and Starmount Round (State Road 2407).

There will be closure of the at-grade intersection at Browns Meadow Road (State Road 2408).

Intersection realignments are set for Shiloh Road and Colonial Trading Path at U.S. 421, Old Red Cross Road (State Road 2403) and Shiloh Road, and Old Red Cross Road and Harold Meadow Road (State Road 2404).

The project timeline includes several likely upcoming developments during autumn. Those include an environmental study, right-of-way acquisitions, and the beginning of a construction phase.

NCDOT is accepting written comments via phone (512 580-8850 code: 3419), email ([email protected]) or NCDOT’s public input portal (ncdot.publicinput.com) through Sept. 13.

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Toyota adds to plans for megasite

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LIBERTY – Toyota announced an additional investment of $2.5 billion in its newest North American facility, Toyota Battery Manufacturing North Carolina at the Greensboro-Randolph megasite.

Last week’s announcement means added capacity to support battery electric vehicle battery production and adds 350 jobs, bringing the total employment to approximately 2,100.

Scheduled to begin production in 2025, the facility will produce batteries for hybrid electric vehicles and battery electric vehicles. Construction has begun.

Last year, Toyota Motor Corporation announced a global investment of approximately $70 billion for electrification efforts. Last week, as part of this aspirational goal, TMC announced a future battery production commitment of up to $5.6 billion, which includes the new North Carolina investment.

“This marks another significant milestone for our company,” said Norm Bafunno, senior vice president, Unit Manufacturing and Engineering at Toyota Motor North America. “This plant will serve a central role in Toyota’s leadership toward a fully electrified future and will help us meet our goal of carbon neutrality in our vehicles and global operations by 2035.”

In 2021, Toyota, in partnership with Toyota Tsusho, announced the new Liberty location with an initial investment of $1.29 billion for battery production and the creation of 1,750 new jobs. Now, the company’s total investment is $3.8 billion.

“This is an exciting time for Toyota, the region and the many North Carolinians we will soon employ,” said Sean Suggs, TBMNC president. “This incremental investment reflects our continued commitment to ensuring jobs and future economic growth for the Triad region.”

Goodwill store opens in Liberty.

Goodwill expands in Randolph County with Liberty store

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Shoppers took advantage of the grand opening of the new Goodwill store in Liberty. (Courtesy photo)

LIBERTY – A Goodwill Industries store and donation center opened in Liberty a few weeks ago, becoming the fourth such location in Randolph County.

“We are so excited to be part of the Liberty community and have already been blown away by the generosity of the donors in the area,” said Brady Craven, district manager for Triad Goodwill. “Right when people saw our signs go up, we were welcomed with bags and literal truckloads of donations.”

The store has gently used and new clothing for all ages and books in addition to furniture, housewares, and shoes.

Nearly all the new store’s employees are residents of the Liberty area. That’s considered a bonus for the organization.

“A lot of people think that we are just a thrift store, but there is so much more that we do, and we are so happy to extend our reach and have the opportunity to provide more services for those in need, thanks to this community,” Craven said.

Triad Goodwill provides training and employment opportunities.

Christine Gillies, marketing business manager for Triad Goodwill, said that with the Greensboro-Randolph megasite in the works and the expected population growth that could accompany that, it made Liberty targeted for a potential store.

It’s the first Goodwill store in Liberty. Goodwill officials said the location was considered an underserved corridor between Burlington and Asheboro.

The grand opening occurred Aug. 11 in a former Dollar General store on South Greensboro Street.

“The store location was basically the only site available in town with access for donations,” according to information provided by Gillies. “Our primary objective with the sites is ease of access for donors. Our goal is to have a drive-thru on the side of the building in the future.”

The building provides 8,000 square feet of retail space.

Goodwill stores in Asheboro and Archdale opened in the 1990s, though multiple sites have been used for those. The current Asheboro store was built in 2005, while the Archdale location was purchased in 2021. A store opened in Randleman in 2006.

Hours for the Liberty store are 10-7 p.m. Monday through Saturday and from 1-6 p.m. Sunday. The donation center closes at 6 p.m. daily.

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Liberty eateries feed on megasite boost

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LIBERTY — There’s more traffic and business in and around Liberty, and that should mean more dollars spent in the small Randolph County town.

This development isn’t unexpected with activity associated with the Greensboro-Randolph megasite.

“I’m actually really thankful,” said Susan Aydelette, owner of Hurricane Jane’s restaurant on South Greensboro Street. “I really think it’s going to be a blessing for everyone. I know it may not look like it right now, but you have to have patience. Some people are complaining. Eventually, everything will be settled down.”

Toyota is building its first U.S. battery plant for electric vehicles, with close to 2,000 workers expected to be in place within a few years. Construction has been taking place on the $1.2 billion plant, with concrete poured last month to mark another spot on the megasite’s timeline.

So nearby Liberty is bound to become busier.

“I feel like we’ve grown a little bit with our business,” said Nicole Perkins, a waitress at Y’all Come Back Café on South Fayetteville Street. “But it’s nothing we can’t handle yet. You’ve got the workers coming in. It’s always nice to have the business.”

The Greensboro-Randolph megasite consists of about 1,800 acres, so new infrastructure will be required to support the volume of traffic and people in the coming years.

Recently, commuters in the area have reported higher counts of orange construction signs informing drivers of some new traffic patterns. Much of those have been on U.S. 421 and surrounding areas.

Atef Youness, who has owned Maria’s Famous Subs and Pizza on South Greensboro Street since 2002, said it’s a relatively moderate increase, more noticeable on some days.

“It is getting some business every once in a while, and we’re expecting it’s going to be more,” Youness said. “I believe when people come to start (to actually work at the plant), it’s going to be more.”

Still, Youness said he intends to send his restaurant’s menus to the work site, which is about 4 miles away, to lure new customers.

Kidd’s Drive-In on South Greensboro Street has been a family-run business for 55 years.

“It’s hard for me to say,” Jerry Kidd said about the impact. “I hear more about it than I actually see. There’s an influx of some new people, but I’m not sure how many are actually from the megasite.”

Still, Kidd said he knows there are workers hauling rock and other construction-related activities that are bound to become factors. It’s just a matter of how soon widespread changes are evident.

“We’ve been fortunate. Business has been pretty good even through the pandemic,” Kidd said.

Aydelette said she noticed an uptick in megasite-related business a couple of months ago for Hurricane Jane’s, which is about a 10-minute drive away. She said she thinks it’s good for Liberty and also figures some of the extra money spent on area businesses is gravitating toward Julian as well.

“We are seeing some of the people,” Aydelette said. “Sometimes they come for lunch, and sometimes they come for a drink or for dinner.”

Maria’s Famous Subs and Pizza is open from 10:30 a.m.-10:30 p.m. daily except for being closed Tuesdays. Youness said he’ll consider opening Tuesdays as well if business increases if he can hire enough staff.

According to DriveNC.gov (a site run by the North Carolina Department of Transportation), Browns Meadow Road near U.S. 421 north of Liberty will be closed in both directions through the end of the year. DriveNC.gov also reports that congestion due to construction traffic associated with the megasite is expected to last through the end of August.

There is roadwork and wetlands mitigation, along with the development of right-of-ways in some locations.

The North Carolina Department of Transportation announced that blasting at the construction site began in March. This is part of the first phase for the megasite, with the North Carolina General Assembly appropriating $135 million for NCDOT to work on-site grading, building roads and highway interchanges, and other improvements.

With all this going on, there are various points of view. Perkins said she realizes traffic volume is changing.

“Some are upset. Some are happy,” she said. “I’m sure in a year, or so, it’s going to get crazy.”

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Towns of Archdale, Liberty selected for rural communities Commerce Dept. program

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A total of 19 rural communities from across the state have been selected to participate in a new program to increase their capacity to plan, implement, and manage economic development programs and opportunities. The Rural Community Capacity (RC2) program, a pilot initiative from the N.C. Commerce Department involving Appalachian State University’s Walker College of Business, welcomed its first cohort of participants in Boone Tuesday.

During an RC2 engagement, communities have direct access to Commerce’s Rural Planning team, who offer additional training and technical assistance to program participants, including a strategic planning process focused on identifying economic development assets and priorities that are specific to each community.

The towns of Archdale and Liberty are among the 19 selected to participate. Communities that successfully complete the RC2 campus curriculum and participate in the Commerce rural planning process will then be eligible to apply for Community Implementation Grants offered by Commerce’s Rural Economic Development Division through the new Rural Transformation Grant Fund.

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Greenwood set for concert in Liberty

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LIBERTY – With Lee Greenwood’s appearance on the schedule for this weekend, Liberty Showcase Theater has drawn some attention. Yet in many ways, that’s nothing new for the entertainment venue.

“We have a lot of country artists from the ‘70s to the ‘90s,” said Spring Gates, general manager of Brown Entertainment. “We also do have some of the top bluegrass artists.”

Brown Entertainment is the company that manages the theater.

Greenwood is a country music singer and songwriter, and a Grammy Award winner.

For the Liberty Showcase Theater, Greenwood’s appearance shapes up as a good one, but it’s not atypical, Gates said. He fits in with a regular run of performers, with The Oak Ridge Boys and Vince Gill among the past notable singers to take the stage.

Greenwood will perform at 7 p.m. Saturday. His hits include “God Bless the USA,” “Somebody’s Gonna Love You,” “Dixie Road,” and “Going, Going, Gone.”

Some performers take a larger role in marketing their performances. That appears to be the case for Greenwood’s upcoming date.

“They’ve been very proactive with that,” Gates said.

Greenwood will perform at 8 p.m. Friday at another of Brown Entertainment’s locales — the Reidsville Showcase at the Rockingham Theater.

The Liberty and Reidsville venues are both operated by Brown Entertainment, which is based in southern Alamance County about 12 miles from Liberty. The Reidsville location opened in mid-September with Exile on opening night. Gates said the goal is to book performers for one night at each site.

Because of Greenwood’s past popularity, he might attract a more mainstream audience.

“I’m not really sure if it broadens (the appeal),” Gates said. “It does cross over a little bit.”

Most shows at Liberty Showcase Theater attract crowds of 400 to 500 patrons, Gates said.

She said the number of shows varies per month, but the preference is to keep a full schedule. Among next month’s scheduled performers are Lonestar (March 12) and Collin Raye (March 26).

“We are working to get a show every weekend,” Gates said.

Gov. Roy Cooper, flanked by other state leaders, speaks at the announcement event for Toyota Motor North America bringing 1,750 jobs to Randolph County (PJ Ward-Brown|The North State Journal)

Toyota will bring 1,750 jobs to Randolph County

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LIBERTY — Toyota Motor North America announced they will build a large-scale battery manufacturing plant in Randolph County, bringing 1,750 jobs to Liberty.

Toyota will invest $1.29 billion at the Randolph County Megasite, which will initially produce batteries for Toyota’s hybrid electric vehicles and later produce batteries for battery electric vehicles in the long term. This is the first North American battery manufacturing facility for the world’s largest automobile manufacturer.

“I am proud of the hard work the General Assembly has done to ensure North Carolina is a state ripe for new business and innovation,” said House Speaker Tim Moore (R-King’s Mountain). “North Carolina consistently ranks as the nation’s top state business climate.”

Moore and his Senate counterpart, Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger (R-Eden), were quick to tout the move by Toyota. The legislature approved over $300 million in state incentives to help land the deal. “I welcome Toyota to North Carolina. We’ve worked hard to transform North Carolina into a jobs-friendly state with low taxes, reasonable regulations, and a world-class education system,” said Berger. “As a result, companies big and small are creating jobs here, continuing a decade of growth.”

Toyota’s presence in Randolph County is projected to grow the state’s economy by at least $9.5 billion over 20 years. Gov. Roy Cooper (D-N.C.) was on hand to welcome Toyota to North Carolina and touted his support for green energy projects. Cooper said the Randolph plant “puts North Carolina front and center” in the clean energy industry.

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