Grant to help Sanford yarn maker, other firms

The five-year grant from Golden LEAF, which funds economic development projects with funds from the national tobacco litigation settlement, will be used to buy about 8,500 shipping pallets, officials said. Frontier Spinning Mills, a Sanford-based yarn manufacturer, will lease the pallets, with proceeds going into a revolving loan fund to help other firms expand.

Frontier also committed to keeping at least 1,014 full-time jobs in its North Carolina operations, including almost 500 in Sanford, officials said. The arrangement also maintains a local market for North Carolina cotton farmers and generates additional business for the state port at Wilmington, they said.

The revolving loan fund provides low-interest business expansion loans, which must be approved by the Lee County Board of Commissioners after being reviewed by Lee County Economic Development, officials said.