Industry Pulse: Virtual Manufacturing Expo, Covid-19 Vaccine Info & More..

The e-newsletter for Catawba County's Existing Industries

Vol. 12, Issue 15: December

Greetings!

2020 has been a year unlike any other for you, your family and your business. It has been full of unknowns, factors well beyond your control and stress – but you have survived. And in so many cases, you have thrived under most unusual circumstances.

Your business has adapted to survive - entering new markets, holding hundreds of customer meetings by Zoom and even potentially “dropping” routines you presumed would always be mainstays.

On behalf of our organization, thank you for enduring those struggles and continuing to battle; your efforts to maintain a “normal” within your company and for our local community cannot be overstated.

We are thankful to be your partners in so many efforts, and we continue to look forward to working with each of you in 2021 and beyond.

A Happy Holidays to you and your family, and we hope all stay well in 2021.

Nathan Huret, nhuret@catawbacountync.gov ; 828-244-3085

Scott Millar, smillar@catawbacountync.gov

Julie Pruett, jpruett@catawbacountync.gov

Donna Lacicer, dlacicer@catawbacountync.gov

Tim Bolick, tbolick@catawbacountync.gov

Covid-19 Vaccine: Resources for Information

Monday of this week was a seminal moment in the arc of the Covid-19 pandemic – with frontline healthcare workers in several parts of the country beginning to receive the first round (of two) vaccinations. The first set of vaccines recently arrived in Catawba County – again initially reserved for frontline healthcare workers. Vaccine availability is expected to be fairly low through the Winter, with the latest reports suggesting they should be more widely available (to even the lowest risk populations) by potentially March and more likely April.

Medical experts are on record suggesting that unless approximately 75-85% of the country receives a Covid-19 vaccine, it will be difficult to truly control the virus moving ahead and achieve some level of “herd immunity”. This is a personal decision to make, but information is key for each person to make their best decision.

In an effort to assist, we wanted to provide several helpful resources (UNC Health ; NC Dept. of Health and Human Services) that answer some of those questions so many of us have:

· How will the Pfizer or Moderna-created vaccine work within my body?

· What do we know (and not know) about the Covid-19 vaccine?

· How is North Carolina determining the order of receiving a vaccination?

If you have additional questions related to the local rollout of the vaccine, please let us know and we will be happy to put you in touch with Catawba County Public Health.

Stream 2021: Manufacturing Expo

Stream 2021

February 16-17^th 2021

Will be conducted virtually

Exhibitor - $325; Attendee - $125

Registration is Open

Catawba County manufacturers are invited to participate in Stream 2021, an inaugural expo connecting manufacturers from across the Charlotte region to one another, - upstream & downstream.

This year’s exposition, conducted online in a virtual trade show format, offers participating manufacturers the ability to:

Find, schedule and conduct online B2B meetings with potential buyers/suppliers
Network with other Stream 2021 attendees through real-time chat, discussion forums, and 1:1 or small group video conversations directly in the platform
Hear from industry-leading speakers on topics relevant to Charlotte-area manufacturers
Create branded-booths promoting the best of your company & its manufacturing capabilities OR you can "walk" the show as an attendee. Visit our Stream website to view features and agenda for the two-day event
…..DO THIS ALL WITHOUT LEAVING YOUR HOME or OFFICE!

As one of the Founding Partners for STREAM 2021,we hope you please click here to learn more and consider registering your manufacturing company in the near future.

CARES Act Delivers New Fire Sprinkler Tax Incentives

Tucked within the CARES Act (passed by Congress this past March), there was a provision that corrected a 2017 drafting error that limited the ability for businesses to write off the full cost of commercial fire sprinkler systems (at that time up to an expense of $1.04 million).

The original 2017 legislation enabled many small businesses to immediately recover the costs of the upfront investment and even interest expenses on a system in the event of a loan. However, the legislation left out many larger businesses from the benefit, many of which typically incur the highest sprinkler system costs.

With this error corrected, any size business can deduct 100% of the cost of a sprinkler system installation (retrofit or upgrade). To be eligible, the equipment must be put into use after September 27, 2017 and prior to January 1, 2023.

You are encouraged to read this article for more information and to talk further with your accountant(s) to understand how this may benefit any fire safety improvements you may have planned in 2021.