N.C.'s Chowan joins list of state's 40 worst-off counties

By Connie Sage

EDENTON

At the same time its jobless rate continued to climb, Chowan County this week was added to a list of the state's most economically distressed counties.

Unemployment numbers edged up to 9 percent in October from 8.5 percent in September for the county, according to statistics released Tuesday by the state's Employment Security Commission.

A day earlier, the state Department of Commerce reduced the county's economic development status to its lowest ranking, designating it one of North Carolina's 40 most distressed counties.

The state's three-tier rating system is based on unemployment, median household income, population growth and assessed property value per capita, according to the Commerce Department.

The news isn't all bad.

By dropping from Tier 2 to Tier 1, the town and county are more likely to receive grants and greater tax incentives, said Edenton Town Manager Anne-Marie Knighton.

"If you're going to have high unemployment and you need resources and help, this is one of the good things to help us bounce back," Knighton said. "It's uncharted territory. We'll take advantage of services and programs to help get people back to work."

This is the first time the county has landed in Tier 1, said Richard Bunch, who heads the local Chamber of Commerce and the Edenton-Chowan Development Corp.

"You turn it into a positive," he said. "It's not good that we've gotten here (but) now that we're here, it gives us some avenues to help us get out of the situation."

Knighton, who said she had expected the unemployment rate to rise, is hopeful the numbers will level off.

"I don't think it's going to change dramatically, with the economy the way it is," she said.

State law calls for the 40 most distressed of North Carolina's 100 counties to be in Tier 1 of the rankings, 40 counties to be in Tier 2 and the remaining 20 counties, the most prosperous, to be in Tier 3, according to a Commerce Department news release. Those designations determine the amount of tax credits for job creation and business property investment in a list of eligible industries.

Companies recruited in Chowan and other Tier 1 counties can receive a $12,500 tax credit per new job with a requirement that the business must create at least five jobs, and a 7 percent tax credit for eligible business property expenditures, according to the Commerce Department's Web site.