Dell will save about $66,000 by repaying early the $26.5 million it received in incentives from Winston-Salem and Forsyth County.

The Winston-Salem Journal reported that because Dell will pay back the money this week, local officials will give the company the discount.

Dell announced last month that it will shutter its Winston-Salem PC manufacturing plant in January, and lay off about 900 workers. The plant opened in 2004 after state and local officials promised a record incentives package.

The company could have waited to pay the money back next year.

"They want to get the thing cleared up and paid off," Winston-Salem Mayor Allen Joines told the newspaper. He added that the city won't lose anything by offering a discount because it can re-invest the money sooner.

Dell has already repaid $1.5 million it received from the state for meeting hiring goals in 2006 and 2007.

Read the full Winston-Salem Journal report here.

North Carolina kept the top spot in Site Selection magazine's ranking of states with the best business climate.

It was the fifth year in a row the magazine ranked North Carolina No. 1. Texas was No. 2, followed by Virginia, Ohio, Tennessee and South Carolina.

The ranking comes as North Carolina is about to lose a major economic development project: Dell announced it plans to close its Winston-Salem factory in January and lay off 900 workers.

Such lists, while routine for the Tar Heel state, are still helpful in luring new business and jobs by painting North Carolina in a positive light, economic development officials say.

An Israeli foam maker plans to open a North American headquarters and manufacturing facility in Louisburg, creating 72 jobs.

State officials promised Palziv North America a grant worth up to $250,000 if it meets its hiring goals. The company is owned by Palziv Ltd., which has manufacturing facilities in Israel, Romania, Ohio and Canada.

The company was drawn to Franklin County partly by an empty building it will use as a base to serve customers in North and South America. This region's educated workforce was also a lure, said Gregory Brooker, Palziv North America's CEO.

The site, located about 35 miles northeast of Raleigh, will produce polyethylene foam blocks and pellets used in vehicle insulation, construction materials and other applications.

The project's 72 jobs will pay average annual salaries of $34,167, higher than the Franklin County average of $33,176, Gov. Bev Perdue's office wrote in a prepared statement.

Dell has repaid the state $1.51 million in grants it received for creating jobs at its soon-to-close Winston-Salem computer plant in 2006 and 2007, a Commerce Department official said today.

Dell also qualified for a jobs grant for 2008, but never received that money from the state, said Katharine Neal, an assistant secretary at Commerce.

The company announced that it plans to close the plant in January because of weak PC demand and lay off 900 workers.

The factory opened in 2004 after state and local officials promised a record incentives package worth more than $280 million. While seen by supporters as a symbol of North Carolina's evolving manufacturing base, critics attacked the incentives as a government handout to a wealthy corporation.

Dell has agreed to repay more than $26 million in incentives from Winston-Salem and Forsyth County as it prepares to close its PC manufacturing plant.

Winston-Salem Mayor Allen Joines sent a letter this week confirming that Dell will pay back $15.5 million to the city within 30 days, the Associated Press reported. Dell also will repay $11 million in grants and county costs.

Dell announced this month it plans to close the plant, which opened in 2004, by the end of January. About 600 workers will be let go next month and 300 more early next year.

The company blamed the slump in PC sales amid the recession. Some of the production work will be shifted to Mexico.

Dell built the plant in North Carolina largely because state and local officials promised the company a record incentives package worth more than $280 million in tax breaks and other incentives. N.C. Commerce Department officials have said they expect Dell will repay $1.5 million to the state, but not $3.6 million the state spent on workforce training.

Washington officials are bringing in some big business guns in their efforts to convince Boeing to build a new assembly plant in that state.

On Tuesday, the day that N.C. Gov. Bev Perdue visited Kinston's Global TransPark, more than two dozen executives from Costco, Alaska Airlines and other large employers in Washington released a letter to Jim Albaugh. In the letter, they practically begged the head of Boeing's commercial aircraft unit not to abandon their state.

"We pledge our support to you and your entire company in working to ensure Washington remains the single best place for you to design, build and market commercial airplanes," they wrote.

Meanwhile, officials in North Carolina, which is reported to be a competitor for a new Boeing factory, remain mum. Unlike their vocal counterparts in Washington, Tar Heel leaders, economic development officials and others still won't even confirm that they are actively wooing Boeing.

Dell plans to repay much of the incentives money it received since opening a computer production plant in Winston-Salem four years ago.

The company shocked state and local officials Wednesday when it announced that it will close the factory in January, and lay off the remaining 905 workers.

Dell was lured to Winston-Salem by the promise of an incentives package worth as much as $280 million. But most of that money hinged on the company meeting hiring goals and keeping the factory open.

Winston-Salem issued a statement saying that Dell has promised to repay $15.6 million it has received so far from the city. And the company will give back $1.5 million it got from the state for meeting hiring goals in 2006 and 2007, N.C. Commerce Department spokeswoman Katharine Neal said today.

The company was eligible to receive another $1 million for meeting 2008 targets, but won't get that money, Neal said.

Dell has received a total of about $8.5 million from the state, but $3.6 million went toward workforce training that won't be repaid, Neal said. That money is "an investment that will continue to benefit individuals and employers," she wrote in an e-mail.

Dell officials also have pledged to provide workers with severance packages and help them find others jobs. About 600 workers will be laid off next month and the rest will lose their jobs early next year.

A Roxboro company that makes parachutes plans to expand its Person County operations to meet increasing demand and create 375 jobs.

North American Aerodynamics will expand and renovate two existing buildings near its headquarters, about 30 miles north of Durham. The company, founded in 1964, currently has 45 employees and 55 seasonally furloughed workers.

The company makes parachutes for the sports and military markets.

The new jobs will pay average annual salaries of $23,834, Gov. Bev Perdue's office announced today.

The state will provide a $300,000 grant from its One North Carolina Fund to help pay for the expansion.

Spirit AeroSystems' massive plant near Kinston remains on track to open in April.

Company officials on Wednesday held a briefing and walking tour of the facility under construction, reports the Kinston Free Press.

The 500,000 square-foot plant is expected to begin production next spring of fuselages for Airbus’ new A350 Xtra Wide Body passenger aircraft.

The plant, about 80 miles southeast of Raleigh, eventually will employ more than 1,000.

Spirit is the first major tenant of the N.C. Global TransPark. State officials offered a rich package of financial incentives to lure the Kansas company with the hopes it would attract other industry. That includes a $100 million grant from the Golden LEAF Foundation, the biggest in the foundation's history.

A Mississippi furniture maker plans to open a new plant in Taylorsville and create 128 jobs.

Caye Home Furnishings was lured partly by a $250,000 grant from the state, Gov. Bev Perdue's office announced today.

The company makes living room furniture and other products marketed under the Stratford and Stratolounger brands.

Caye has five manufacturing facilities in Mississippi and Florida, and two in China. In August 2008, it opened one in Star, N.C., which now employs 52 workers.