It's 5.05. Good morning to you. Welcome into the Carolina Journal News Hour, News Talk 1110-993 WBT. I'm Nick Craig. We cover a lot of business announcements over on our website, CarolinaJournal.com, and then, of course, bring them to you here on the Carolina Journal News Hour.
Many of them large projects, many years away. But unfortunately, sometimes these projects, while the announcements are great, the projects do not necessarily make their way into full completion. To walk us through some details this morning on a company that has been in the talks for a couple of years here in North Carolina, Teresa Opeka from CarolinaJournal.com joins us to talk about VinFast. They are a Vietnamese electric vehicle maker. Teresa, the announcement back a couple of years ago in North Carolina, what's currently going on on their site, a planned development site over in Chatham County?
Good morning, Nick. Thanks for having me.
Well, not a heck of a lot. As I have in the article, you can hear those proverbial crickets chirping right now. There's just been no activity. From a year ago, we had the latest update was that they were gonna push the plant opening to 2028. And this plant was supposed to be up and running now for at least over a good year or so.
You know, bring all these jobs, and the plant is a $4 billion. EV manufacturing plant. It was going to be called the crown jewel of VinFast.
Well, the jewels got a little bit of tarnish on it, and it keeps growing as the years go by.
So, we wanted to do an update because we're seeing a few new articles popping up here and there about the status of the company, where they're going, and it just seems like their main focus has shifted away from the U.S. They're also looking at Europe as well and how that bodes for North Carolina. And this would have made the first auto manufacturer in the state if it comes to fruition. I also saw some other reports, other places that Hyundai was also thinking about relocating or locating a plant here. But in terms of being the first plant, this was supposed to be.
You know The big, big news in 2023, we had former Governor Roy Cooper there, the groundbreaking with officials from VenFast. It was just could be this wonderful thing that happened. But unfortunately, we're not hearing a lot. Hearing the same things from like last year from the company and also from Chatham County. where this is being located, Monk Your Triangle Innovation Point, which has got some land cleared.
And basically, it's the same story. Not much of anything's happening, but There are some things we will go into that are happening, and it's just not for the better. You know, Teresa, obviously, when we talk about business announcements, the business market is always volatile, regardless of whether the economy is good or bad. But predominantly, when we're talking about VinFast, we're talking about electric vehicles, which have seen a huge surge in demand over the last couple of years, then a rapid decline in just the last 12 to 24 months. That industry and that entire sector is shifting dramatically.
Even some domestic car makers, Ford GM, and others, announcing they're pulling back on their amount of EV expansion. I would imagine some of that demand issue is causing problems for the Vietnamese automaker. I would imagine so, yes. And we're also looking at the expiration of the $7,500 federal tax credit for electric vehicles. That's going away on October 1st.
And also we've got some uncertainty, of course, surrounding tariffs. That's going to compound the company's challenges they have faced so far in the United States.
So you tie that all together, it doesn't paint a really good picture for this company.
Now you mentioned that they have maybe looked at some other emerging markets after making that US announcement, after announcing some of the plans to build that facility here in US. It looks like while the company may not be necessarily moving on the plant in Chatham County, they are expanding in the Asia market, correct? That is correct. Yep.
So they started that expansion last year. They're in Indonesia, India, the Philippines. They're breaking ground on a couple different factories over there. And also expanding in their own home country in Vietnam.
So they are still making, it looks to be some progress, but yeah, nothing much here. There are three dealerships I will mention in North Carolina, Apex High Point, and Charlotte does have some VinFast dealerships and for about seven other states across the country. But that's all the U.S. involvement this company has at this point.
So you highlighted in your article a couple of other articles from places like Bloomberg and the Motley Fool. They are looking at this company's overall financial picture. And Teresa, they're asking, I think, I would argue, some pretty important questions. Right, right.
So, you know, basically insideevs.com, they said VinFast, this is their quote: VinFast certainly tried, but it's become clear that it's not really working according to their plan for the U.S. The cars the brand sells don't seem to be up to snuff for European and American markets. And while losses have continued to mount, you know, basically the owner of VinFast has put up $2 billion of his own money to fund the company. And they lost $3.2 billion last year.
So another report had Bloomberg saying that VinFast is spending $1.57 for every dollar of profit. Again, that's that $3.2 billion loss. And Motley Fool basically is calling the company a money pit, echoing Inside EV's article. They're also questioning whether VinFast would shut its doors and become the next Fisker. That was a a company in where um Two failed American EV companies, like the head of that.
So you combine all of that with all the news and the previous news they had before. They had initial bad reviews of their. their product And it just seems like there are some highs with this company, but there are definitely a lot of lows. And again, we're still waiting to hear a lot more on. Are they coming?
Are they still going to be coming to North Carolina? What is the situation with that? It's like we're still in a holding pattern.
So it's a question that actually needs to be asked because there's been so much money promised with this company. We had the J Dig grants, money from Chatham County, which, of course, They don't get unless they do produce the jobs. But we do have the state which also pony up money to clean up the site. They spent another $450 million on infrastructure around the site. Um as we said They're not going to get that back.
That money is already spent, it's going to be spent.
So it's a costly project to undertake if we're not sure about what's going to happen in the end.
Well, and I'm glad you bring up the JDIG grants. Teresa, over the last couple of months, we've had a couple of different stories looking at JDIG grants. And unfortunately, if you're playing this straight on the track record, many of these projects that get announced do not come to their full fruition. They are not getting necessarily that money. But on the other side, you're noting that the state, regardless of whether they're hitting these thresholds for the JDIG, the state is investing hundreds of millions of dollars for roads and infrastructures.
That money is gone, and you could potentially be running infrastructure to an empty facility if nothing ends up being built. That's right. That's right. I mean, we, you know. We mentioned the Jay Diggs track record.
I think we had a story. Curse of the J dig a while back, you know, as I as a headline. And it doesn't seem like anything. They shouldn't say anything. Not much comes to fruition when it comes to these grants.
I mean, North Carolina is ranked number one in business. It's got obviously a lot going for it. You know, we've got to be zeroing out the corporate tax rate in the next couple of years, lowering the state income tax.
So, I get it when you want to give incentives to companies, but it seems like the way they're doing it with these JDIG grants is definitely not working. And you mentioned Rhodes. One of the sad things about this story. And again, human interest stuff always touches me. Um We were talking about how they're going to have to use eminent domain to put new roadways in to connect to this plant and various other things.
There's going to be a lot of homes and businesses demolished and a historic church. Unfortunately, that church, Mary Oaks Baptist Church, met the wrecking ball in June. We do have some pictures and mention this in the article. That church was standing there for a good over 130 years. Since 1888, and it met with a wrecking ball in June.
You know, it just. It really saddens me when things like this happen and maybe in the end Again, this is speculation: is this project going to happen? Did that have to happen with that church, people's homes, people's businesses? I guess the old proverbial time will tell. is what we're going to have to watch out for.
Yeah, and again, Chatham County officials and folks from VinFast, the company themselves, both emailing Carolina Journal this week saying that, yes, the project is still on, the plan is still happening, is on schedule to begin construction and have some of that done and operational by 2028. But, Teresa, obviously, looking at the track record here and some of the financial information and your quote, I think many would be probably hard-pressed to believe the folks from VinFast, at least as of right now, but we will continue to wait. You've got a lot more details, links to the historic church, the Mary Oaks Baptist Church, and some of those other articles you referenced this morning. Where can folks go and read those details? Sure, they can head on over to CarolinaJournal.com.
It's a great update this morning. We appreciate the time. Teresa Opeka joins us on the Carolina Journal News Hour. It's 520. Welcome back to the Carolina Journal News Hour.
News Talk 11:10-99-3 WBT. The North Carolina State Board of Elections had a public meeting yesterday discussing a variety of issues. The first was the board rejecting Sunday voting in two counties across our state ahead of municipal elections. Later on this year, the state board split along party lines yesterday, voting 3-2 to reject Sunday voting in both Davidson and Union counties for the upcoming municipal elections. Republicans Francis DeLuca, who is the chair, Stacey Foragers and Robert Rucho backed the decision, while the two Democrats in Carmen and Miller opposed the decision.
Davison County previously allowed Sunday voting, but the GOP majority voted to accept the county board's plan, excluding the Sunday voting in the county. And in Union County, a majority plan also admitted Sunday voting despite a minority proposal to allow two Sundays of early voting across that county.
Now, there was some debate on this with board member Stacey Foragers saying, quote, There's been a divide among folks of who I believe in earnest in their beliefs as to various reasons for and against whether to have Sunday voting. I know some of my colleagues who've served on this board in the past have taken the stance that Sunday is a day for rest and that there ought to and that they ought to not be voting on Sundays at all, whereas other of my colleagues take the position that we always should have had Sunday voting and I think each side has some merits and I think each argument has a faith that there are arguments on either side that favor that decision. He personally said that it was a mindful decision about the hardworking county board of election directors and their staff who would be working 17 straight days leading up to the election if Sunday voting was allowed.
However, board member Jeff Carmen, a Democrat, disagreed with that, saying that Sunday voting had been popular in the past and is needed with the growing population. During the board discussion, Carmen said, I agree with that. I just also would say I don't want us to regress back to a previous time and a previous voting system that did not serve the people of North Carolina as well as it had in recent years. The debate went on.
However, at the end of the day, it is a three to two Republican-controlled board, and the Republicans voted in favor of not allowing Sunday voting in Davidson and Union counties. The board also unanimously approved three early voting sites in Cumberland County.
Some of the other business taken up another three to two party line vote. The board approved an update to its registration repair project. You've heard us talk about that over the last couple of months here on the Carolina Journal News Hour. The project seeks to fix nearly 195,000 incomplete voter registration records across the state of North Carolina. Those missing have ID numbers, which include either the last four digits of your social security number or your full North Carolina driver's license or ID number.
The update includes sending a second round of mailings to voters whose driver's license number or social security numbers have not been validated by the state board of elections, counting provisional ballots using Continuing rather, provisional ballot use until missing information is provided, and also reporting that more than 20,000 voters have already corrected their records. Democrats raised concerns about possible name change mismatch affecting people across the state, but Republicans argued this plan is the least intrusive option available, and they went along with that in that three-to-two party line vote. And finally, the board took no public action on the U.S. Justice Department's May lawsuit against the state of North Carolina and the state board, alleging deficiencies in voter registration compliance with the Help America Vote Act. Court filings suggest a potential settlement could be reviewed in closed session at that meeting that did happen yesterday on August the 27th, with a possible consent order submitted to a judge as early as today.
It is pretty common that when you are discussing ongoing litigation or Legal challenges in a setting like this, whether you're talking about the State Board of Elections, maybe even a local county commission or a city council, that they discuss ongoing litigation in closed session. That is a very common practice.
So we'll likely get an announcement from the state board once all of this has been submitted to a judge and is finalized. But those were some of the actions taken at that meeting yesterday. Ahead of municipal elections coming up later on this year. You can read some additional details over on our website, CarolinaJournal.com. That headline story: NC election boards drop Sunday voting in two counties.
Again, those details over at CarolinaJournal.com.
Well, turning our attention to the busy holiday weekend, some good news for domestic travelers. Flights, hotels, and car rentals are cheaper this Labor Day weekend compared to last year. According to the study out from AAA Travel, looking at the last hurrah of summer, Labor Day travel across the United States, Stacey Barber, the vice president of AAA Travel, wrote in a statement, quote, Labor Day caps off summer travel and provides one final holiday weekend before the fall routine begins. The top cities on domestic and international lists for Labor Day weekend are Seattle and Vancouver, both port cities for Alaskan cruises. While some people are going on a dream cruise or European vacation, many travelers are staying closer to home and taking road trips to nearby beaches or national parks.
Domestic round-trip flights are 6% cheaper compared to where they were last year, averaging $720 a ticket. Many travelers are flying into Orlando, Florida, New York, New York, Denver, Colorado, and Atlanta, Georgia for sightseeing attractions and events. AAA booking data also shows hotel rates are 11% lower than they were last year, and car rental rates. Are about 3% compared to Labor Day 2024. AAA car rental partner Hertz says that the top destination based on advanced bookings are some of those other cities we already talked about where flight traffic is expected to increase, Orlando, Denver, Boston, LA and Atlanta with the busiest day to pick up rental cars heading your way tomorrow.
That's a Friday, August the 29th. Summer gas prices have also remained low, matching summer averages going back to 2021.
So, seeing some relief over the last couple of years. Last year, the national average for a gallon of regular gasoline was $3.33 on Labor Day. Barring a tropical storm or hurricane affecting Gulf Coast refineries, gas prices will stay below where they were last year.
So far, in 2025, gas prices have seen a few fluctuations thanks to steady crude oil prices. And as it stands right now, obviously, this number is set to fluctuate potentially in the next couple of days. But according to AAA's gas price tracker, they currently show the national average at $3.21. Here in North Carolina, the average is well below that, $2.90 across the state of North Carolina.
So, definitely some relief compared to some of the Labor Day travels in the past. The cost To internationally travel for those that are doing so, this Labor Day weekend, however, is a mixed bag. While hotels are 2% cheaper, airfare is 8% more expensive. And it's interesting to note: European cities make up most of AAA's top international destinations, but the number one spot belongs to Vancouver. This has to do with Alaskan cruises wrapping up a strong season, as AAA projected earlier this year with their 2025 cruise forecast.
All things considered, it does look to be a busy Labor Day. Travel will be up. Prices are down for American consumers. A lot of folks are looking forward to that last vacation of the year ahead of Thanksgiving and Christmas. You can track some additional details on this great article over on the AAA website this morning.
The headline there: last hurrah of summer top Labor Day travel trends. That is available over at AAA.com. It's 5:36. Welcome back to the Carolina Journal News Hour. News Talk 11:10-993 WBT tracking some news across North Carolina this morning, the Asheville City Council.
Has amended the membership and appointment criteria for their Human Relations Commission of Asheville, also known as the HRCA. The city also filed a joint motion on Tuesday in federal court with plaintiffs who challenged HRCA membership rules. The motion asks a judge to enter an order ending the dispute.
So we go back to 2018. That's when the HRCA was created, and it was designed to promote human relations and advice to the city council of Asheville on issues of equality and inclusion. Its original bylaws required that specific quotas be filled by individuals representing certain demographics, including African Americans, Latinx residents, LGBTQ individuals, youth, residents from each city district, and people with disabilities. In 2022, facing difficulties filling vacancies, the City Council reduced the Commission from 15 members to 9 members, with some quotas removed.
However, the city maintained race and identity-based preferences when evaluating applicants for the HRCA. An individual by the name of John Myall, who spent nearly three decades working for the city of Asheville, applied in early 2023 to serve on the HRCA. His application was denied, leading Mayal and four others to sue the city, alleging they were rejected from the commission because of their race. They're white. The five plaintiffs working with the Pacific Legal Foundation claim in their lawsuit that Asheville's HRCA membership rules unlawfully discriminate and prevent qualified applicants from serving on the city's advisory board.
The lawsuit reads in part: No government commission or committee should use an individual's race or ethnicity to determine who gets an opportunity to serve their public. Last Friday, attorneys for both sides submitted a proposed consent decree that, if approved by a judge, would end the case. That also required Asheville that the city of Asheville end its current practices and ensure equal opportunity on the HRCA by administering appointments without regards to race, ethnicity, or national origin. Earlier this week, Asheville's City Council meeting took place, and the item was brought up for consideration, striking some of the discriminatory language from the membership criteria. The Asheville City Attorney described it as something that was needed to be done for legal purposes.
This is what he had to say at the meeting on Tuesday night. I'll be happy to do so, Councilmember Roney. This particular item makes what I would call a Minor modification to the existing ordinance that deals only with the appointment process for membership to the HRCA. This removes one subsection in its entirety. The point of that essentially arose as a result of a lawsuit that the city has been involved in for some time regarding that particular board and the way that the ordinance was originally worded.
The city has, as part of this particular ordinance amendment, fully resolved that litigation with no other liability for the city. And we've done so in a way that's preserved all of the existing membership. Council's ability to ensure equal opportunity for that board going forward, but to also ensure that we are out of the woods with any kind of allegations of discriminatory impact that could potentially result from these Ordinance appointment measures.
So, this essentially helps us resolve a lawsuit, but withholds and maintains the existing structure of the board.
So, that is the attorney for the city of Asheville describing why they were going forward with this. The portion that was struck reads as follows: Membership should reflect the groups of individuals that the Human Relations Program is intended to assist and protect, including but not limited to individuals from different races, ethnicities, sexual orientations, or backgrounds. It goes on to note: The consideration of appointments of members shall provide equal access and opportunity to serve upon the commission to all historically disadvantaged groups, including but not limiting the following: Black or African American, Latino or Hispanic individuals, Native Americans and indigenous people, Asian Americans, members of the LGBTQ community, youth members between the ages of 18 and 25, individuals who live in public housing, individuals with a disability or disabled individuals, and finally, individuals who are recognized. As community leaders. That was the membership criteria that was previously enacted by the city of Asheville that was up for debate.
At the meeting on Tuesday night.
However, not all of the board members were in agreement with moving forward. This is one of the Democrat members of the city council in Asheville. Thank you for that answer.
So I'm going to maintain my position as I did in the closed session about this and voting no. And I wanted to share just a small amount of my why. I was not on council when the HRCA was formed, but we had a number of data sets explaining racial inequities, inequities in our schools, and access to education. Pay inequities, housing inequities. issues with ADA compliance across our transportation network.
Um So many struggles in ways that prove that we should do better by each other. And This board, when it says in its list who's meant to bring their professional experience, who should we invite? It's like a reminder to me of who's most impacted and who's left behind so often. When we think about folks with disabilities, I think of my friend Priya Ray at DIY Abled and how she reminds us that all of us will have a disability at some point in our life, even if it's for a very narrow window.
So when we design our city for everyone, it's good for all of us. And so that's the spirit of why I've taken the position I am today. We'll now hear from the mayor of the city of Asheville on why she is in favor of agreeing with the attorney and removing some of these requirements. And I appreciate that, Councilman Rooney. I'd just like to add some context for this.
As most people know, we have a change in leadership in Washington and a cancellation of. All things DEI. And unfortunately, we are being sued over this. the way we've worded the appointment process for this committee.
So while I would love to vote with you, Councilman Roney, we do have to make these changes, or we could potentially be facing long litigation that we're likely to Not prevail on and end up incurring attorney's fees and paying the other side's attorney's fees.
So sometimes we have to be pragmatic in the way that we resolve things to save tax dollars, but be able to At least preserve a commission that we know is doing good work and concentrating on things that are very important to our community. It's an unfortunate reality that we're having to navigate in this new. Regime. uh and that I know it's tough for all council.
So We can't all vote no, but I appreciate you symbolically doing so in protest of having to make such a change. Thank you so much for the response and the opportunity to comment. I will add that sometimes we can't do anything, and sometimes we should do what we can. Like Fighting for human and civil rights and our constitutional rights. And that's something that our community needs us to do.
Thank you.
Well, I wasn't trying to get into anything, but I guess you're saying you want to continue with the litigation. I've stated my position. Thank you.
As you can hear with the back and forth, even the progressive members of the Asheville City Council, which is exclusively controlled by Democrats, having problems dealing with this going forward, even though they were open to litigation, the vote did end up passing two members of the Asheville City Council not agreeing with the recommendations from the attorney.
However, it did pass. The lead attorney for the five plaintiffs of the Pacific Legal Foundation called the outcome a significant milestone. Saying in a press release, quote, This is a victory not just for our clients, but for every resident of Asheville who values equal treatment under the law. The government has no business telling people they can't serve their community based on the color of their skin. This, of course, all comes as DEI movements at the national level have began to be dismantled by the Trump administration, lawsuits flying around all over the country, including here in North Carolina.
You can read some additional details about this story, some of the background legal aspects of it, by visiting our website, CarolinaJournal.com. That story's headline is Asheville Agrees to Eliminate Race-Based Commission Criteria. Again, that's over on our website, CarolinaJournal.com. It's time for the sixth annual WBT Little Heroes Blood Drive coming up next Thursday, September the 4th. WBT and the One Blood Big Red Bus will be at the Dog House in Uptown Charlotte from 10 a.m.
to 3 p.m. We'll be broadcasting live and encouraging you to make a life-saving blood donation. It's the sixth annual WBT Little Heroes Blood Drive coming up next Thursday, September 4th at the Dog House in Uptown Charlotte. It's now 5:53. Welcome back to the Carolina Journal News Hour, News Talk 1110-993 WBT.
In some statewide news this morning, continuing to track some of the issues with VinFast, the Vietnamese electrical vehicle maker. Who hosted a groundbreaking ceremony at a facility in Chatham County more than two years ago and continues to struggle with a timeline on getting that site completed? Little, if anything, has changed with the site since the company announced in July of last year that it plans to delay the factory's opening until 2028. At that time, then County Chatham County manager told Carolina Journal in a statement that despite the delays, they were confident that there was no change in VinFast's scope or vision for the project in Chatham County. Fast forward to where we sit this morning, Chatham County continues to make those statements, with the new county manager telling Carolina Journal, quote, Chatham County has not been made aware of any changes in VinFast scope or vision for the project, and we maintain our support for the project.
Using the state's transformative job development and investment grant, VINFAST could get up to $316 million in reimbursements from the state of North Carolina over a three-decade period of time if the company meets hiring goals and standards. The state is spending another $450 million on infrastructure around the site. The total state appropriation is estimated to be in the ballpark of $766 million, with Chatham County giving VINFAST another $400 million worth of incentives. While it does have three dealerships in North Carolina, Apex, High Point and Charlotte, as well as seven other states, its focus shifted to Asia last year with a groundbreaking on an E V assembly plant in Indonesia. It has also pivoted to markets in India and the Philippines.
When asked about an update on the Chatham County project, a spokesperson for VinFast told the Carolina Journal in a statement this week that the company has a comprehensive development strategy for its markets, with the United States being a key focus. The email reads, quote, VinFast's expansion in Asia is an important part of our overall growth strategy to promote global transportation electrification. VinFast is committed to operating and growing its businesses in the United States. We continue to sell our VF eight and VF nine models in the U. S.
while expanding our dealership network. We currently have nearly thirty dealerships across fourteen states with plans to continue expansion nationwide.
However, those familiar with the EV industry and financial markets are highly skeptical about VinFast's chances in the United States and Europe, with multiple reports out over the last couple of weeks from websites inside EVs.com, Bloomberg, and the Motley Fool all looking at VinFast's financial future and talking about some of its struggles, including the fact in a recent Bloomberg article that VinFast is spending $1.57 for every $1 of profit, meaning that VinFast lost in the neighborhood of $3.2 billion last year. That has caused the VinFast founder to put up $2 billion of his own money to continue to help funding the company and their continued growth. Financial and investing advice company, the Motley Fool, called the company a quote money pit, echoing other claims from those inside the EV sector. Also, noting that all in all, that it would not, they would not be surprised, that being the Motley Fool would not be surprised whether VinFast would shut its doors and become yet another failed EV startup that is trying to expand in the United States. There are still a lot of questions, I may argue, more questions than answers this morning about the future of the Vietnamese automaker and its expansive plant set to be built in Chatham County, North Carolina.
We've got a lot of background on everything that has gone on over the last couple of years. You can read those details this morning over on our website, CarolinaJournal.com.
Well, that's going to do it for a Thursday edition. WBT News is next. Followed by Good Morning, BT. We're back with you tomorrow morning, 5-6, right here on News Talk 11.10 and 99.3, WBT.
