Dr. Steven Leath, Director of North Carolina State Institute for Advance Fruit and Vegetable Science, was on hand for the topping out ceremony of the UNC Nutrition Research Institute at the NC Research Campus in Kannoplis. Photo By Jon C. Lakey, Salisbury Post.

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By Emily Ford

eford@salisburypost.com

KANNAPOLIS — After budget cuts, freezes and layoffs last fall, the financial picture at the N.C. Research Campus has improved and universities are recruiting new faculty members, officials say.

"It has been a difficult year for everybody," said Dr. Steve Leath, vice president for research for the University of North Carolina system. "But we are moving forward at a much faster rate now."

In addition to a $3 million increase for this fiscal year allocated by the N.C. General Assembly, Leath gave the Research Campus an extra boost.

He moved $1.5 million to the recurring budget, money that he'd previously used for one-time start-up costs in Kannapolis, Leath said. That brings the campus annual state budget to nearly $24 million.

Those taxpayer dollars go toward rent, salaries and equipment at the campus, which is owned by Dole Food Co. chairman David Murdock.

"The campus is in better shape," said Leath, who worked in Kannapolis for N.C. State University before taking a job with UNC General Administration.

University institute directors in Kannapolis learned in December about the additional money. While seven public universities have a presence at the Research Campus, the bulk of the $1.5 million boost went to programs run by UNC-Chapel Hill, UNC-Charlotte and N.C. State, Leath said.

Budgets for those three schools were further behind than the others — Appalachian State University, UNC-Greensboro, N.C. A&T and N.C. Central, Leath said.

"We are very pleased with the new budget," said Dr. Steven Zeisel, director of the UNC-Chapel Hill Nutrition Research Institute in Kannapolis.

UNC-Chapel Hill, which suffered a $1.1 million budget cut last fall and laid off two administrative staff, is now recruiting four new faculty members, Zeisel said.

Zeisel said he won't reinstate the support staff because UNC General Administration has encouraged him to put the money toward faculty.

Faculty members can win grants and hire support staff without using taxpayer dollars.

The additional $1.5 million will mean hiring up to 10 more UNC research faculty members in Kannapolis this year, Leath said.

"We already have a tremendous breadth of equipment and really good facilities in Kannapolis, and we want to make good use of them," he said. "The only way we can do that is with faculty."

Every faculty member in Kannapolis hires three to five additional people, from lab technicians to post-doctoral fellows, he said.

"We'll see another 50 people hired there on this money," Leath said.

The UNC system currently has 102 employees in Kannapolis.

About 200 people work at the Research Campus, which also includes Duke University, developer Castle & Cooke and about a dozen private companies.

Overall, the campus will see an additional 100 employees this year, or a 50 percent increase, Leath said.

That includes a dozen people working for new flagship tenant Monsanto Co., graduate students in the new Kannapolis Scholars program and three scientists who will open the Dole research and development laboratory, as well as new UNC faculty and staff, Leath said.

"We expect to be able to fully utilize the space and equipment," he said.

Currently, much of the UNC, N.C. State and Core Laboratory buildings — the main buildings on campus — stand empty.

The fledgling campus opened in October 2008. Developers said they don't have a vacancy rate because the $1.5 billion complex is so new.

Once fully operational, the UNC system will have between 200 and 300 people working in Kannapolis, Leath said.

That requires $7 million more from the state.

"We would like to get the additional $7 million next year," he said. "But that may be overly optimistic."

Annual budgets for the UNC-Chapel Hill Nutrition Research Institute and the N.C. State Plants for Human Health Institute in Kannapolis now total just over $8 million each.

The financial picture at N.C. State has "definitely improved," said Tara Vogelien, director for business and research administration.

"It shows the state's commitment to the Research Campus," Vogelien said. "To get any new money at all in a tough budget year is a huge impact."

N.C. State is recruiting two new research faculty members, who will generate six to eight additional jobs, Vogelien said.