Lenoir gets to the meat of the matter.

• Position: WESTERN

Vantage Foods, a Calgary, Alberta-based meat processor, will spend $21 million to open a factory in Lenoir next year and create 183 jobs. They will pay an average of $11.86 an hour, less than the Caldwell County average of $13.59. The plant will process meat for subsidiaries of Hickory-based Alex Lee, including Lowe's Food Stores, a grocery chain; Merchants Distributors, which ships food...