Moore County is not usually used to good news when it comes to the textile business, but in the case of MMC Textiles, there's plenty of positive developments.

MMC Textiles has leased an additional 5,000 square feet in the former Carthage Fabrics building in Carthage to bring a knitting process in-house so the company can expand its customer base.

"The new machinery we're bringing in will heat-set the fabric that we knit," said Dan McCoy, co-owner of MMC. "Right now, we're outsourcing the heat-set function. We can reduce our overall cost by doing it ourselves."

McCoy and partner Rick Walker announced the expansion Wednesday.

The Moore County Board of Commissioners voted in June 2011 to support MMC with a $10,000 reimbursement for moving costs once the company created nine new jobs, retained those jobs for a minimum of one year, and added property with tax value of at least $250,000.

"It was small investment on our part," Commissioner Craig Kennedy said. "We see the payback not only in the tax revenue, but the jobs. We're excited that MMC is here. We look forward to them hiring more people and growing. We'll do anything we can to assist them."

The incentive package was put together by Ray Ogden, former executive director of Moore County Partners for Progress, the county's economic development arm.

His successor, Pat Corso, said Wednesday that MMC had done "a great job" of fulfilling its obligation.

"It's another sterling example of how these incentive programs work," Corso said. "These kinds of things can be done over and over. It's exciting to see MMC get its reimbursement. These gestation periods take time, but they're obviously very committed to Moore County."

The Carthage Century Committee, which supports economic development, also agreed in June 2011 to contribute $10,000 to assist the company in moving to the area and was scheduled to present its check today.

"The encouragement of local government as well as other supporting organizations ... has allowed us to focus on making our new business a success," Walker said. "If every county in North Carolina encouraged small business like Moore County has done for us, there could be thousands of new employment opportunities, because it's the small companies which generate a majority of the jobs."

MMC signed a two-year lease in 2011 to take about 23,000 square feet in the 141,172-square-foot building on Niagara-Carthage Road.

The company, which hopes to have its new machinery installed and running by the second quarter, manufactures fabrics for industrial consumers in the military, aquaculture and horticulture industries, among others.

For example, MCC makes a netting for the U.S. Army that can be placed over a vehicle to keep it 20- to 30-degrees cooler than the outside temperature. The same technology is used to produce a similar netting that is used to cool greenhouses.

McCoy, who owns McCoy Machinery Corp. in Monroe, believes the textiles industry is making a "small comeback" in North Carolina.

"It's not booming," he said. "It will never be like it used to be, but it's nice to see a little rebound. There's some more empty space next to us in this building, so hopefully we'll keep growing in that direction."

Contact Ted M. Natt Jr. at (910) 693-2474 or tnatt@the

pilot.com.