NEWTON — Catawba County commissioners on Monday night terminated a December 2023 economic development agreement with Wanzl North America after the shopping-cart manufacturer failed to hit the investment and job targets that unlocked local incentives. Vice Chair Austin Allran made the motion. The vote carried unanimously.
County Attorney Jodi Stewart’s memo asked the board to approve the close-out so the county can finish administrative paperwork on the deal. Newton’s City Council, the memo said, will consider a similar action.
What the deal required
The economic development agreement, dated Dec. 13, 2023, was performance-based. Incentives were contingent on Wanzl completing a project at 700 Technibilt Drive in Newton — the longtime plant formerly associated with Technibilt — that involved construction, upfitting, and equipping at a cost of not less than $15 million, creation of at least 10 new jobs, and retention of 309 jobs at the facility. The improvement window ran July 1, 2023, through Dec. 31, 2025.
Wanzl did not meet the investment requirement or the new-job requirement by that deadline, Stewart wrote. Those failures are events of default under the agreement. The company did not file for or request incentive payments, and the county has paid $0 under the EDA to date.
Clean close-out, not a clawback fight
Because nothing was paid, Monday’s vote is not a clawback story. It is the county taking a non-performing deal off the books. A May 2026 budget packet had already flagged Wanzl among “unearned” economic-development incentive lines — about $22,914 for the then-current year — noting the improvement period had closed and no future eligibility remained. Formal termination finishes the file.
The draft termination agreement releases both sides from further obligations under the 2023 EDA. Company notice address in that draft is Wanzl’s Lincoln Commerce Court address in Denver, N.C. — the same metro where Lincoln County celebrated a Wanzl North American headquarters expansion in late 2023 while Newton was pitched the manufacturing investment.
Pattern on the incentive book
Monday’s action lands in a year when the county has already cleaned other incentive files. In August, commissioners moved on Microsoft-related incentive changes after those projects also produced no payments — coverage here. At the same time, the county continues to write large performance-based packages for projects that are moving, including the Prysmian expansion track in Claremont.
Wanzl’s missed marks do not rewrite that larger story. They do underline the deal structure local boards keep selling: incentives follow jobs and capital, or they do not follow at all.
What still sits open
Newton’s parallel vote is still ahead, per the county memo. Current headcount at the Technibilt Drive plant versus the 309-job retention baseline was not in Monday’s packet. Neither was a company statement.
For Catawba County taxpayers, the ledger line is simple: the incentives were never paid, the company missed the tests, and on Allran’s motion the board closed the agreement.
Source: Catawba County Board of Commissioners agenda packet, Sept. 21, 2026 (item 14, Attorney’s Report — Wanzl EDA Termination; Jodi Stewart memo; draft termination agreement dated Dec. 13, 2023 EDA). Meeting: 7:00 p.m., Justice Center, 100 Government Drive, Newton. Motion: Austin Allran; carried unanimously (Tom).
