AFS Corporate Member Charlotte Pipe and Foundry Company announced it is moving its headquarters to Oakboro, North Carolina, and building a new foundry there on the 428-acre property.
Charlotte Pipe has operated its cast iron foundry in Charlotte, North Carolina, at its current location at the corner of S. Clarkson St. and W. Summit Ave. for more than 100 years. Over the decades the company has invested heavily in capital equipment, environmental control technology, infrastructure and its people in order to operate an efficient, modern, and safe foundry. 

The new location is approximately 36 miles from the uptown Charlotte site near Bank of America Stadium.

“Charlotte Pipe has always been committed to investments that will benefit our associates, our customers and our shareholders,” said Roddey Dowd, Jr., CEO of Charlotte Pipe. “While our current location is providing all stakeholders with a solid platform to deliver outstanding results, a new foundry will allow a more efficient layout of our plant and equipment and give us the flexibility to expand to meet future needs. Our current site simply does not afford the opportunities for growth that we envision for Charlotte Pipe.”  

As plant relocation details are finalized, senior management is evaluating a wide variety of options related to the 55 acres that comprise the current foundry location in uptown Charlotte.  “We feel fortunate that the land area constitutes one of the largest contiguous tracts of land in an urban center in the nation and we see many exciting possibilities for the property,” said Hooper Hardison, President of Charlotte Pipe.

Charlotte Pipe worked through an exhaustive, two-year process to select Stanly County as the site for the new foundry, in which the company will invest at least $325 million. 

Along with local county and town incentives, the N.C. Department of Commerce approved a $15 million Job Maintenance & Capital Fund grant to Charlotte Pipe for its move, contingent on the company investing $325 million and paying employees 140% of the county’s average wage. 
Charlotte Pipe is currently finishing the design and engineering work and finalizing key contracts and permit applications. Site work could begin later this year, and the new plant could be operating as early as the third quarter of 2023.

The Golden Leaf Foundation and the North Carolina Railroad are helping provide infrastructure and other support to make this project a reality. In a press release, Charlotte Pipe specifically thanked the following elected officials: Governor Roy Cooper, Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger, Speaker of the House Tim Moore, Senator Tom McInnis from District 25, Senator Carl Ford from District 33, Senator Paul Newton in District 36 and State Representative Wayne Sasser from District 67.  

Charlotte Pipe also thanked the Stanly County Board of County Commissioners and the Stanly County Economic Development Commission, the Stanly County Manager, as well as the town of Oakboro, its mayor and the Town of Oakboro Board of Commissioners.