by Think Currituck, on 12/21/20 4:33 PM
This past year was anything but "business as usual" for North Carolina. Much like the rest of the world, our state was forced to adapt in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. But North Carolina remained attractive to major companies when it came to expansions and new construction.
We've reviewed the year's economic development announcements from the North Carolina Department of Commerce and the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina (EDPNC) and compiled a list of the top 13 projects, in terms of job creation.
North Carolina's
Top 13 Job-Creating Projects
Announced in 2020
COMPANY: Centene
JOBS CREATED: 3,237
PROJECT: Regional headquarters and technology hub
LOCATION: Charlotte
INVESTMENT: Over $1 billion
MORE INFO: "Its expanded workforce will include allied health professionals, data analysts, information-technology specialists, administrators and others. Centene’s new positions will offer salaries that average $100,089 annually, creating a regional payroll impact of nearly $324 million per year." - Full Press Release / July 1, 2020
COMPANY: Bandwidth Inc.
JOBS CREATED: 1,165 (over 8 years)
PROJECT: Headquarters expansion
LOCATION: Wake County
INVESTMENT: $103 million
MORE INFO: "Its networking technology is utilized by major names such as Google, Microsoft, Cisco and Zoom. The fast-growing company reported $232.6 million in revenue for 2019, up 14% from 2018." - Full Press Release / April 7, 2020
COMPANY: BioAgilytix Labs, LLC
JOBS CREATED: 878
PROJECT: Expansion
LOCATION: Durham County
INVESTMENT: $61.5 million
MORE INFO: "The company specializes in large molecule bioanalysis and provides a wide portfolio of services supporting the development and release testing of biologics across a number of industries and disease states. Recently, BioAgilytix announced plans to launch COVIDence, a platform to provide employers a comprehensive COVID-19 testing program. The new expansion in North Carolina will help the company meet increased demand from its customer base of the world’s top pharmaceutical and biotech companies." - Full Press Release / October 29, 2020
COMPANY: Pratt & Whitney
JOBS CREATED: 800
PROJECT: New high-tech turbine airfoil production facility
LOCATION: Buncombe County
INVESTMENT: $650 million
MORE INFO: "Pratt & Whitney, a unit of Raytheon Technologies Corporation (NYSE:RTX) is a world leader in the design, manufacture and service of aircraft and helicopter engines, and auxiliary power units. The new project in Asheville will lead to the development of a new 1,000,000 square foot advanced manufacturing facility." - Full Press Release / October 22, 2020
COMPANY: UPS
JOBS CREATED: 592
PROJECT: Expansion
LOCATION: Guilford County, Alamance County
INVESTMENT: $316.4 million
MORE INFO: "UPS will expand its existing Greensboro hub with the addition of 141 new jobs and construct a new package car center at the N.C. Commerce Center in Graham, creating 451 jobs there. New positions at both facilities will come with wages averaging $65,147 per year, creating a total annual payroll impact of $38.5 million for the region." - Full Press Release / October 13, 2020
COMPANY: Thermo Fisher Scientific
JOBS CREATED: 500
PROJECT: Expansion and manufacturing facility
LOCATION: Pitt County
INVESTMENT: $500 million
MORE INFO: "The investment... will include a new, stand-alone, 130,000-square-foot facility with two live- virus filling lines that will be operational in 2022. The site will also add six new lines in 2021 and 2022, including commercial-scale liquid filling lines and a development line for liquid and lyophilized (freeze-dried) drug products." - Full Press Release / December 10, 2020
COMPANY: Intercontinental Capital Group Inc
JOBS CREATED: 500 (over 5 years)
PROJECT: Expansion
LOCATION: Mecklenburg County
INVESTMENT: $5.8 million
MORE INFO: "The privately-held company also operates several community-focused brands including Veterans Community Home Loans which concentrates on serving the financial needs of current and retired military members and their families. This unique approach enables ICG to match prospective borrowers with mortgage specialists who can best serve their needs." - Full Press Release / December 22, 2020
COMPANY: Eli Lilly and Company
JOBS CREATED: 460
PROJECT: State-of-the-art pharmaceutical manufacturing facility
LOCATION: Durham County
INVESTMENT: $470 million
MORE INFO: "This new manufacturing site will be a state-of-the-art facility that produces parenteral (or injectable) products and delivery devices. To operate the site, Lilly will create more than 400 jobs in highly skilled positions such as scientists, engineers, quality professionals and manufacturing operations." - Full Press Release / January 21, 2020
COMPANY: Ontex Operations USA, LLC
JOBS CREATED: 403
PROJECT: New production facility
LOCATION: Rockingham County
INVESTMENT: $93.3 million
MORE INFO: "Ontex is a leading international maker of high-quality consumer products for baby care, feminine care and adult care for retailers, healthcare providers and institutional customers across 110 countries." - Full Press Release / May 27, 2020
COMPANY: GRAIL Inc.
JOBS CREATED: 398
PROJECT: State-of-the-art laboratory facility with office and warehouse space
LOCATION: Durham County
INVESTMENT: $100 million
MORE INFO: "GRAIL has developed a testing approach supported by evidence from a population-scale clinical study program believed to be the largest ever conducted in genomic medicine. GRAIL's team of leading scientists, technologists, and clinicians are working urgently to revolutionize cancer detection." - Full Press Release / June 2, 2020
COMPANY: Grifols Therapeutics
JOBS CREATED: 300
PROJECT: Specialized blood plasma facility and logistics center
LOCATION: Johnston County
INVESTMENT: $351.6 million
MORE INFO: "Grifols Therapeutics is a leading supplier of medicines derived from human plasma. A subsidiary of Barcelona, Spain based parent Grifols, S.A., the company has decided to expand its operations in North Carolina with a new plasma fractionation facility and logistics center at its Johnston County campus to help meet the growing demand for plasma derived medicines." - Full Press Release / June 9, 2020
COMPANY: Retirement Clearinghouse, LLC
JOBS CREATED: 300
PROJECT: Headquarters and corporate office expansion
LOCATION: Mecklenburg County
INVESTMENT: $4.1 million
MORE INFO: "Retirement Clearinghouse provides retirement asset portability services to employees as they move their retirement savings from one employer plan to another. RCH leverages innovative financial technology to simplify and streamline the process of consolidating retirement savings accounts for six million of the nation’s employees." - Full Press Release / August 11, 2020
COMPANY: Nestlé Purina PetCare Company
JOBS CREATED: 300
PROJECT: Manufacturing site
LOCATION: Rockingham County
INVESTMENT: $450 million
MORE INFO: "Nestlé Purina will operate at the location of a former industrial brewery near Eden, where its pet food manufacturing facility will employ production operators, warehouse personnel, quality control technicians and other staff." - Full Press Release / September 30, 2020
