United Furniture Industries NC - national manufacturer of residential upholstered furniture announced plans for an expansion in Davidson County. The company will open a new facility in Lexington creating 150 jobs and investing more than $3.3 million.

Albaad USA Inc. - international supplier of wet wipes will expand its plant in Rockingham County. The company will invest more than $9 million and create 95 jobs in Reidsville.

Vitacost.com Inc. - online retailer and direct marketer of health and wellness products, will expand in Davidson County. The company plans to invest $6.7 million and create 228 jobs at its Lexington facility.

American Express - financial services firm will build a new data center in Guilford County.

New runway adds 200 acres
of developable land at PTI

The Piedmont Triad International Airport has opened a third, 9,000 foot runway that runs parallel to the airport’s main 10,000-foot runway.

The $150 million runway completes a long-term expansion project at PTI that began when FedEx announced its plans, in 1998, to build a mid-Atlantic package sorting air hub at the airport. The company required an additional parallel runway to handle traffic that the new hub would create.

The new runway will also benefit other business at the airport, by enabling planes to take off and land simultaneously on parallel runways and opening up approximately 200 acres of land for future development.

The project was paid for mostly with government grants, as well as about $30 million from the Piedmont Triad Airport Authority revenues.

Aerial of the Piedmont Triad Airport campus

“Madhouse” draws attention to
local NASCAR short track

“Madhouse,” the 13-episode History Channel reality series, followed the lives and antics of several regular stock car drivers at Bowman Gray Stadium’s racetrack in Winston-Salem. Bowman Gray is the longest-running NASCAR short track in the country.

The Piedmont Triad Film Commission assisted the producers of the series throughout the entire production in 2009. While exact figures are confidential, Rebecca Clark, director of the Piedmont Triad Film Commission, remarked that several million dollars were spent in the area over their five-month shoot on expenses such as office space, lodging and crew members. The producers also hired graduates from several local colleges. “Madhouse” premiered on January 10, 2010.

Eric Hylton Photography

"Madhouse" has had a secondary economic impact on the region in the form of "film tourism". While racing at Bowman Gray has always had a reliable following, the stadium’s largest crowds have shown up this season. On May 1, a combination of opening-night rain checks and a large number of “Madhouse” fans produced a capacity crowd, the largest that drivers and stadium officials remember.