In the recent session of the North Carolina General Assembly, the state legislators voted to fund a project office to move forward with the North Carolina Advanced Vehicle Research Center. The proposed Center will be a public/private enterprise that would develop a 630-acre site specifically for research and development testing of new automotive and transportation technologies.

A purchase option on the target site has been secured through the Northampton County Economic Development Commission and groundbreaking is planned for the Spring of 2005.

Under the current plan, the AVRNC facilities will include a 2.5 mile development track built to accommodate automotive and truck testing needs. Stage One of the plan will also include garages and office space needed by client users of the Center. A wide range of shared testing labs will include specialized facilities for the testing of alternative fuel technologies, including biodiesel, hydrogen, and fuel cell labs.

Facilities at the Center will be available on a lease basis based on client needs, and rates should be very reasonable with state support of the project.

The Center will provide office, garage and laboratory facilities to client members to facilitate and expedite research and development that is being done by companies that cannot afford the major cost of developing their own major test facilities.

While the strategic plan is to support advanced vehicle research, the Center will also offer all facilities for testing of conventional vehicles and subsystems.

Additional information can be obtained at the AVRNC web site www.avrnc.com or by emailing your request to info@avrnc.com . A brochure is on-line at www.avrnc.com/brochure.pdf .

AVRNC Managing Director Richard Dell can be reached at 919-870-9494 or by email rddell@avrnc.com

Gary Brown, Executive Director of the Northampton County Economic Development Commission, can be contacted at 252-534-1092 or by email at g.brown@ncmail.net