Piling on Project Haystack.

• Position: TRIAD REGION - Heritage Home Group bought Furniture Brands International - Quest Diagnostics buys Solstas Lab Partners

Since nearly a fifth of it would be there, Guilford County leaders are pitching Project Haystack--a 2,000-acre megasite where they hope data centers and advanced manufacturers will locate--to local governments in Alamance County. The Greensboro planning department says the site could attract $6.5 billion of private investment, create as many as 5,300 jobs and bring in more than $39 million a year in local and state tax revenue. All of the land would have to be acquired except for Guilford County's 760-acre prison farm. According to a proposal by the Greensboro office of Timmons Group, a Richmond, Va.-based engineering and site-development company, Greensboro would provide sewage service and Burlington would supply water to the site. Guilford County has committed $30,000 for initial costs, including drafting an agreement between the two counties and Greensboro, Burlington and Gibsonville to move forward with the project. Timmons project manager Mike Solomon says proximity to a Duke Energy substation and access to a major fiber-optic trunk-line makes the site prime for a data center.

THOMASVILLE--Heritage Home Group, which bought most of St. Louis-based Furniture Brands International's assets out of bankruptcy in November, will close two Thomasville Furniture plants here this month. All 84 employees will lose their jobs. Heritage Home, also based in St. Louis, has about 3,000 workers in North Carolina, including those at factories in Hickory and Lenoir. Its brands include...