Kayak manufacturer: I'm back in the paddle again.

• Author: Murray, Arthur O.
• Position: TAR HEEL TATTLER

No man ever steps into the same river twice, for it's not the same river and he's not the same man." The Greek philosopher Heraclitus said that in the sixth century B.C. Now, a High Point man who founded a kayak factory that left the Triad last year will embody the old Greek's saying by opening another one there this spring, thanks, in part, to the newfangled notion of economic incentives.

Andy Zimmerman, 49, says he's different--more experienced in the ways of business--from the man who started Wilderness Systems in 1986. After a series of buyouts and mergers, it became Confluence Holdings Inc., which moved from Trinity to Easley, S.C., last summer. These are certainly different times: Paddling was about to boom then, while growth these days is modest. And he hopes for a different--though still successful--outcome.

Earlier this year, he bought controlling interest in Bristol, R.I.-based Heritage Kayaks and renamed it Legacy Paddlesports. He has $121,000 in incentives from Guilford County commissioners and in mid-April was optimistic that he soon would get about $380,000 more from the state.

If he does, Zimmerman plans to employ up to 75 initially and increase that to 250 within three years. He has an option to lease part of a DaimlerChrysler Commercial Bus Division plant in Jamestown and hopes to be in full production by August...