Sept. 19. Haines, the largest floor covering distributor in the US, will spend $6.4 million on a new distribution center that will create 172 jobs in Concord. The new distribution center will serve as Haines’ southern hub and will house Haines’ entire stocking portfolio of floor covering, installation and maintenance products.

“Haines is so pleased to establish the base for our southern operations in Concord. The new location will optimize our warehouse network and enable us to provide our customers next day delivery of our full SKU assortment,” said Doug Drews, Haines chief supply chain officer of the privately held company.

Flooring is big. The North American commercial flooring industry is expected to reach $26.8 billion by 2021, up from $21.5 billion last year. That’s a compound annual growth rate of 4.5 percent.

Both the Cabarrus County Board of Commissioners and Concord City Council supported and approved a one-year, performance-based tax incentive totaling $38,080 for Cabarrus County and $26,112 for the City of Concord.

“When a distribution company like Haines comes to Cabarrus, it’s a step in the right direction,” said Steve Morris, chair of the Cabarrus County Board of Commissioners. “The company covers a lot of ground across several major regions of the country. It’s an honor they find Cabarrus the right place to build on an established business history.”

Salaries for the 172 full-time jobs will exceed the average wage for Cabarrus County.

Robert Carney, executive director of Cabarrus Economic Development, recognized Cabarrus County, the City of Concord, The Silverman Group, Avison Young and Colliers International for their combined efforts to recruit the company.

Haines will operate out of a 500,000 square-foot facility located in Concord Airport Business Park – Phase III, located on Derita Road in Concord. Haines will start its operations in the first quarter of 2018.

Haines, which dates back to 1874 has operations covering the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic and Southeast. Back in August, Haines filed notice with the state that part of its Wadesboro facility will close next spring, affecting 82 workers there; the bulk of those jobs come to Cabarrus. Their facility on Hwy. 74 West in Anson County will permanetly close by the end of March in 2018.

The Concord Airport Business Park, owned and managed by The Silverman Group, is a 136-acre industrial park located within 1.5 miles of Interstate 85. When fully completed, the park will contain over 1.5 million square feet of industrial space.