By Josh Bergeron

josh.bergeron@salisburypost.com

SALISBURY — In an effort to bring in new business, Rowan County commissioners on Monday gave a local business and one based in California the same deal on slightly different pieces of property.

Commissioners unanimously approved the sale of 4.75 acres of property across from the Rowan County Fairgrounds to California-based Amrep, which manufactures garbage trucks. They also approved the sale of 10.68 acres of property in Speedway Business Park to Bowtie Property, which plans to build a corporate headquarters for its Salisbury-based subsidiary Makson. The sale price of each site is $105,000.

Earlier this year, Amrep won an upset bid process on the Speedway Business Park site with a $105,000 price. After Bowtie Properties and its subsidiary expressed interest in the site, Rowan Works Economic Development maneuvered to find sites for both companies. Although the business park site has a larger total acreage, Rowan Works Executive Director Robert Van Geons said it can’t all be developed.

Both companies can close on the property almost immediately, according to Van Geons. He said Amrep would start hiring within a year. Amrep is projected to add 20 new jobs at the site, which will manufacture its trucks. The jobs will have an average annual salary of $37,000, according to the presentation on Monday.

The facility across from the Rowan County Fairgrounds, on Julian Road, will be Amrep’s first facility on the East Coast. Commissioners Chairman Greg Edds says Amrep does business with Agility Fuel Systems and Freightliner. Amrep’s move should be credited to Shawn Adelsberger, who oversees operations at Agility’s location in Salisbury, according to Edds. Adelsberger recommended that Amrep look to move to Rowan, Edds said.

The Makson headquarters is actually projected to create more jobs than Amrep. In Speedway Business Park, Bowtie Properties is proposing to build a warehouse and headquarters for Makson Inc., a construction company based in Salisbury. Makson plans to add up to 75 new jobs by 2021, according to Van Geons presentation.