In May, North Carolina Governor Josh Stein, Holly Springs Mayor Sean Mayefskie and others gathered in Washington, D.C. to announce a $700 million investment in Holly Springs by Genentech, a member of the Roche Group, one of the most well-known life science companies in the world. The new biotechnology facility in the northwest corner of Holly Springs is set to open in late 2028. With the addition of Genentech to the community, over the past five years the Town has landed nearly $6 billion of new industrial capital investment commitments to Holly Springs.
“Last year alone 84% of the new capital investment announced in Wake County was in Holly Springs,” said Holly Springs Economic Development Director Irena Krstanovic. “While our community is beginning to reap the benefits of this unprecedented recruitment success, the real benefits are yet to come.”
New Commercial Growth Means Lower Reliance on Residential Property Taxes
The Town’s largest revenue source is the property tax, which is assessed on items such as real estate and personal vehicles from homeowners and business owners. In 2020, the Town Council approved a new strategic goal to increase the level of manufacturing and commercial tax base compared to residential tax base as a long-term strategy for keeping property taxes as low and stable as possible for town residents. The positive impact to local property taxes does not happen overnight, but as new companies invest in Holly Springs more of the property tax base is shifted to commercial. Currently, Holly Springs enjoys the second lowest property tax rate of all 13 local governments in Wake County.
It is important to keep in mind that the amount of property tax paid to the Town of Holly Springs depends on two factors: 1) the market value of one’s property as determined by the Wake County Tax Assessor and 2) the property tax rate levied by the Town of Holly Springs. Residents also pay an additional property tax component to Wake County. Wake County’s property tax rate is determined by the Wake County Board of Commissioners.
“While historically the Town has heavily relied on residential property tax revenue, starting this year and by FY 2030 there will be a significant shift in the contribution of the commercial tax base,” said Holly Springs Town Manager Randy Harrington. “Remember, it takes years from the public announcement, to building the facility and receiving property tax revenues, so residents are just starting to see benefits now. Over the next five years these companies will give Holly Springs the ability to support essential services like police, fire, public works and more, while providing the opportunity for maintaining greater property tax rate stability for our residents.”
Projections indicate that the Town’s commercial property tax base will grow to 40% of the total tax base, with residents contributing a 60% share. In fact, over the next few years, the Town expects at least three of these life science businesses in Holly Springs to be within the top 10 taxpayers in Wake County, which is a monumental achievement for a town the size of Holly Springs.
As part of the strategy to recruit companies to Holly Springs, economic development agreements provide industry standard incentives such as partial tax reimbursements for a limited timeframe. These incentives are directly tied to new company investments and only occur if certain requirements for jobs and economic investment are completed. A typical agreement provides a grant back to the company from a portion of the company’s paid property taxes. These agreements only last for a set period of time, have a cap on the total potential amount, and only reimburse companies from taxes already paid by the company. These grants do not use other tax-payer dollars.
Jobs and Economic Growth
The announced life sciences companies will add 3,000 new jobs to the community with an average salary of $110,000. Amgen, one of the major life science companies recruited to Holly Springs, recently opened the facility’s first phase and reported that more than 70% of its new hires have come from the local area.
Not only are these companies bringing well-paying jobs to the community, but they are helping to train local students to obtain the skills they need to break into the thriving life science industry. Amgen has already purchased $65,000 in biotechnology lab equipment and gifted it to Holly Springs High School so teachers can introduce students to the life sciences field. They’ve also created an apprenticeship program with Wake Tech which is already providing paid training and full-time jobs to local students.
FUJIFILM Biotechnologies offers The Partners for STEM program that focuses on creating impactful experiences for middle school and high school students and teachers from Holly Springs and the surrounding Wake County. Through engaging field trips and summer experiences, the program offers students a unique chance to delve into the worlds of biomanufacturing, sustainability, and STEM careers. To date, the program has touched the lives of over 300 students, equipping them with valuable knowledge and experience that can shape their academic and professional futures.
CSL Seqirus has hosted teachers from Pine Springs Preparatory Academy in Holly Springs for 3-day immersion experiences in biotechnology and business curriculum to bring back to their classrooms. They’re also partnering with the Holly Springs High School Women in Engineering Club to introduce students to diverse careers in the industry.
In addition to jobs working directly for the major life science companies in Holly Springs, these large employers have helped attract more small businesses to the community and with that comes additional jobs and small business growth. In 2024, more than 600 new small businesses registered in Holly Springs, representing a major leap in entrepreneurial growth.
“Businesses like restaurants, day care facilities, and service companies have all sprouted up in the last several years as a direct result of our recruitment efforts,” said Krstanovic. “The Town has teamed up with the Holly Springs Chamber of Commerce to facilitate avenues for local businesses to get on supplier lists for these companies and we’ve seen excitement build in our community to tap into the economic growth we are seeing.”
Infrastructure Improvements
As part of the negotiations to bring these major companies to Holly Springs, the state has pledged funding to improve infrastructure in Town. Over $50 million in funding has been committed by outside partners to enhance local roads and expand utilities. Some of these projects include:
The addition of a new access road to the south of the Holly Springs Business Park to absorb employee and delivery traffic entering and exiting their facilities and remove traffic off of Holly Springs New Hill Road and Green Oaks Parkway. (Construction begins in summer 2025)
Future road improvements to Friendship Road, New Hill Holleman Road and the US-1 interchange
A major $4 million upgrade to sewer infrastructure in the Holly Springs Business Park
A 3-mile extension of the Town’s water, sewer and reuse water lines to the northwest corner of Holly Springs that will benefit the entire area
$10 million from FUJIFILM Biotechnologies to support other critical transportation investments in Town
As the community looks forward to commemorating the Town’s 150th anniversary next year, economic development recruitment successes mark significant milestones in the history of Holly Springs. These successes provide exciting benefits for the community, including the creation of new jobs, infrastructure improvements, opportunities for small businesses to thrive, and commercial tax base growth that can help keep the Town’s property tax rate one of the lowest in Wake County. These efforts can occur jointly with the spirit and commitment to keeping Holly Springs a special place that residents and businesses are proud to call home.
