In a report released May 1 by the Stanly County Board of Commissioners, certain economic development efforts continue for projects across the county.

The county has worked on 12 active projects over the past six months, with two projects added in the past 30 days and one removed because the company was not moving forward with its project.

The report also stated five new requests for information were made by companies in the past 30 days.

Metal manufacturing was four of the 12 active projects involved, with one likely being the Charlotte Pipe and Foundry project, which both Stanly and the town of Oakboro passed offers of tax breaks and considerations to the company. Oakboro also had the most active projects, with Norwood and Locust right behind, according to a pie chart on the report.

Commercial and residential activity is trending more positively in the last nine months than the period from July 2018-March 2019., the report stated. Leads on the EDC side and new subdivision submissions are lagging as compared to the same time period in the 2018-19 fiscal year.

According to the report, new home construction permits are slightly higher (231 in July-March FY 2019-20 versus 222 in the previous fiscal year) along with overall building permits (3,411 versus 2,834). Loan activity has increased “significantly,” the report stated, adding the overall value of permits and construction project values also is trending higher.