On January 26, Gov. Roy Cooper announced PennyMac will establish a mortgage fulfillment production center in Cary. The announcement was the culmination of months of negotiations between PennyMac and the North Carolina Department of Commerce, North Carolina Economic Development Partnership, North Carolina Community College System, Wake County Economic Development, Wake County, Cary Chamber of Commerce, and the Town of Cary. 

The North Carolina Economic Investment Committee approved the PennyMac project for a Job Development Investment Grant. To receive the incentives, PennyMac agreed to make a $4.3 million capital investment and create 322 jobs with an average salary of $64,567. Per the grant, Cary must also provide an incentive, so Council approved an incentive of $65,000 over five years.

Merritt Properties of Baltimore filed plans for 142 acres across from the Raleigh-Durham International Airport. The project, called Brier Creek Industrial, plans for 13 single-story flex buildings. The buildings will range in size from 8,400 square feet to more than 100,000 square feet, and the project will total more than 700,000 square feet at buildout. Merritt is relatively new to the Triangle market, and these plans represent their largest project to date. 

Throughout the pandemic, Cary monitored and evaluated new and changing regulations and best practices to adapt existing employee benefits when needed. Although some changes were mandatory, Cary implemented other innovative changes that supported employees with minimal- to no-cost implications. Changes included extending the period to use Flexible Spending Account (FSA) funds, increasing the FSA rollover amount, allowing for more flexibility with mid-year changes, and continuing coverage of COVID-19 treatment free-of-charge.

Providing ongoing health and well-being opportunities is paramount to taking care of employees. From the virtual Choose to Lose Challenge focused primarily on physical activity and nutrition to the Mind Body Challenge centered on mental and emotional well-being, nearly 150 employees took advantage of virtual challenges this quarter. 

This quarter, staff designed a comprehensive multi-hazard guide, providing employees preparedness information for responding to emergency situations. The guide, which was distributed to all facilities, bolsters Cary’s health and safety initiatives and culture while allowing compliance with Occupational Health and Safety Administration regulations.

Human Resources launched its “Go Paperless” initiative to digitize all personnel records. Concurrently, transformation of internal employee forms to digital workflows is underway, utilizing electronic signature capability. Cary is also converting all existing hard-copy personnel paperwork into a digital files. The combination of these initiatives increases ease of storage, ability to search, and accessibility of information.