Brunswick County Commissioners hear update on substance use, finalize $280K economic incentive

BOLIVIA, NC (WWAY) — Substance use disorder was a topic of discussion at the Brunswick County Board of Commissioners meeting on Monday night.

According to the Brunswick County Substance Use and Addiction Commission, four people have died this year from overdoses in Brunswick County. There have been 45 overdose reversals.

From August 2021 to July 2022, there have been 42 emergency room visits related to opioid overdoses.

The county’s Substance Use and Addiction Commission presented this data and more to the commissioners with a focus on the threat of fentanyl; which is the deadliest drug threat in the country, according to the Drug Enforcement Agency.

“There’s almost no family, group, or individual that has not been touched by substance use disorder. It’s a universal thing,” Brunswick County Substance Use and Addiction Commission Vice Chair Father William Eberle said.

Eberle says they want to educate people on substance use. One way they are doing that is through the enCompass Program which will teach people to identify the signs of addiction, help someone in need of support, the impacts of stigma on individuals and families, and how to set healthy boundaries and principles of care.

The next enCompass training session will be held on Saturday, September 24, from 9 am to 5 pm at Brunswick Christian Recovery Center. The event is led by the Addiction Policy Forum and is open to all adults who want to learn more about addiction and have the skills to respond.

To register for the free event, visit here. For more information, contact encompassbrunswickcounty@gmail.com.

Also at Monday night’s meeting, commissioners finalized a $280,000 economic incentive partnership with Precision Swiss Products. The money will go to the company over the next three years.

In exchange for the county’s investment, Precision Swiss must invest more than $8 million in machinery and create 125 new full-time jobs in the county over the next five years.

“It creates new opportunities for the residents. In the jobs that Precision Swiss is bringing in, the average wage is much higher than the existing average wage in Brunswick County so it provides a better quality of life for the residents,” Brunswick Business and Industry Development Executive Director Bill Early said. “They also bring in additional investment which brings in additional tax revenue for the county.”

The average wage for the jobs will be around $54,000 per year.