Charlotte.

• Position: REGIONAL REPORT

Plants will rev up county's economy

Boat maker Chris-Craft and Indian Motorcycle will open factories in Cleveland County and create more than 800 jobs. The companies, based in Sarasota, Fla., plan to invest $42 million during the next five years in a county that has one of North Carolina's highest unemployment rates--7.1% last year. Chris-Craft will employ 640 and begin building yachts 33 to 40 feet long next year at a plant formerly occupied by DaimlerChrysler's Axle Alliance subsidiary in Kings Mountain. Chris-Craft will continue to make smaller boats in its Sarasota factory. Indian will move its headquarters to a building near Kings Mountain formerly used by International Paper and begin making high-end motorcycles next year. Chris-Craft's average wage will be $32,000; Indian's will be $47,000. The Cleveland County average is $28,700. The two companies, owned by London-based Stellican, could get as much as $7.6 million in state incentives.

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NEWTON -- Minneapolis-based discount retailer Target will build a 1.5-million-square-foot distribution center in Catawba County. Target will invest about $90 million in the project and could receive $9 million in state and local incentives. The center, on a 247-acre site, will employ at least 500. It's expected to open by 2009.

CHARLOTTE -- Polymer Group, which makes nonwoven fabrics for the medical, food-service and janitorial industries, moved its headquarters here from North Charleston, S.C. In June, Polymer completed a $40 million expansion of its Mooresville plant. It also has a factory in...