Changes to the plant building stay outside it.
A printer and laminator quote is a plain equipment agreement over five years. A filler-capper can be leased or bought; the invented lease costs more in total. Packaging for a 60-day order is a credit line draw or inventory financing. Two machines from two vendors can share one agreement or use two. Cabarrus County, NC plants average about 35 employees.
At a glance
- Manufacturing payroll, Cabarrus County, NC (CBP 2023, NAICS 31-33)
$326.6 million for 5,909 employees
- Manufacturing establishments with a ZIP 28081 address (ZBP 2023)
10
- Employees per manufacturing establishment, Cabarrus County, NC
about 35, against about 15 for all employers (our arithmetic)
- Manufacturers with no paid employees, Cabarrus County, NC (NES 2024)
312
Manufacturing equipment financing for a wide-format printer and laminator at a Cabarrus County, NC print shop
Invented quote for a print shop: a wide-format printer at $31,400 and a laminator at $7,250, $38,650 delivered. Through equipment financing at 10.90% for 60 months, the shop would owe $838.42 each month.
In this invented example, sixty months of $838.42 reach $50,305.20, of which $11,655.20 is interest. Banners, vehicle graphics and signs that once went out to another printer are the work that has to carry it.
Printing and related support activities (NAICS 323) are a small group in Cabarrus County, NC: 10 employer establishments with 140 employees and $5.4 million of payroll in 2023, 6 of them under five employees (60.0%). Separately, Nonemployer Statistics counted 20 printing businesses without paid employees in the county in 2024.
A filler-capper and label applicator for a small Kannapolis, NC food maker: lease or loan
A small food maker, invented here, bottles sauces by hand and prices a filler-capper at $24,300 plus a label applicator at $8,760. The two come to $33,060.
| Route | Each month | Total to own | Beyond the price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Loan, 60 months at 11.20% | $722.11 | $43,326.60 | $10,266.60 |
| Lease, 60 months plus a $3,306.00 buyout | $698.00 | $45,186.00 | $12,126.00 |
In the invented comparison, each lease payment is $24.11 smaller, yet after the buyout the lease has cost $1,859.40 more. The lease can still win for a maker that expects to trade up to a bigger line before five years pass.
In the county figures, food manufacturing (NAICS 311) is 10 employer establishments with 1,451 employees and $61.2 million of payroll in 2023, about 145 jobs per plant by our arithmetic. A bottling kitchen with four staff is a very different file, and that is fine.
Credit line uses for Cabarrus County, NC manufacturers: packaging stock bought ahead of a 60-day customer invoice
Invented order: a customer buys $26,900 of finished product on 60-day terms. The film, cartons and labels for it cost $17,480 and are paid ten days before the order ships, so the plant is out that money for 70 days.
For the invented order, on a business line of credit at 13.30% a year, counted by the day, 70 days on $17,480 costs about $445.86. The customer's payment clears the draw.
Where orders like this are steady, inventory financing built around the material purchases may suit better than a revolving line. A partner may ask for the purchase order, the customer's payment history and the supplier invoices.
A band saw and welding tables for a Kannapolis, NC fabrication shop: one agreement or two
Invented case: a fabrication shop wants a band saw at $9,875 and three welding tables at $2,140 each, $16,295 together, from two vendors.
Written as a single invented agreement, $16,295 at 12.85% for 36 months means $547.87 a month; the shop's outlay ends at $19,723.32, interest ($3,428.32) included. At one rate, two separate agreements cost the same added together; splitting matters when the vendors offer different terms or one piece may be sold early.
Fabricated metal product manufacturing (NAICS 332, which includes machine shops) counted 36 employer establishments in Cabarrus County, NC in 2023, with 387 employees and $22.9 million of payroll; 17 of them (47.2%) had fewer than five employees. Three had a ZIP 28081 address. The 2024 Nonemployer Statistics file lists 46 businesses in the code with no paid employees.
Plant size in Cabarrus County, NC manufacturing: employees per establishment against the county as a whole
Cabarrus County, NC manufacturing employers paid $326.6 million to 5,909 employees in 2023 (CBP), across 169 establishments. That is about 35 employees per establishment by our arithmetic, against about 15 for all 5,279 employer establishments in the county.
The share of small plants is lower too: 32.0% of manufacturing establishments had fewer than five employees, while 54.1% of all county employers did.
Office ZIP 28081 has its own small count: 10 manufacturing establishments in the 2023 ZBP file, half of them under five employees.
For a request, size changes the paperwork more than the route. A term loan for a larger purchase may bring a request for financial statements; a small maker may get by on bank statements and the quote. For the office ZIP's own figures there is the Kannapolis, NC page; other trades sit on the industries page.
By Ivyvale Capital Group ยท Updated