N.C. Digs Early JDIG Results

North Carolina state officials are touting their latest economic development tool, the job development investment grant program (JDIG), giving it credit for bringing in 1,580 jobs and $50.5 million in investment during a six-month period (May-October) in 2003.

Recent North Carolina Locations and Expansions Honda Power Equipment Mfg. (HPE) is spending $30 million at its Swepsonville factory to add a third production line to meet increased demand for its general purpose engines. HPE, which produces engines, lawn motors and other products, will add 200 employees when it reaches full production by fall 2004.         Ohio-based GOJO Industries, a manufacturer of hand sanitizers, will build a $10 million plant in Scotland County, creating 250 jobs.         NT Techno USA, a Japanese-owned company that manufactures automotive transmission parts, opened a new $21-million, 63,000-sq.-ft. (5,852-sq.-m.) manufacturing facility in Oxford, creating 40 jobs.

Created by the General Assembly in 2002, JDIG provides grants to new and expanding companies deemed "strategically important."
        Rockingham County has taken it on the chin the last few years with multiple plant closings in its traditional textile sector. So, the latest recipient of a JDIG grant comes as welcome news to the region, as it also brings a company participating in a textile sector that's actually thriving.
        A.F.G. Wipes, an Israeli company, will site its first U.S. operation at the Reidsville Technology & Industrial Park, bringing 200 jobs and an investment of up to $30 million over the next four years. A.F.G. is a manufacturer of nonwovens, a specialty textile that remains viable in the U.S. The company, a subsidiary of Albaad Massuot Yitzhak, headquartered in Tel Aviv, also considered sites in Vance County, N.C., as well as locations in Virginia and Pennsylvania.
        A.F.G, which expects to be operational at its new facility in July, will produce wet wipes for babies, skin care, household and healthcare industries. The sector is a $1.2-billion industry in the U.S. Albaad expects its new North Carolina subsidiary to generate more than $75 million in annual sales.
        If A.F.G. meets all of its job creation requirements, it could receive up to $1.6 million in state aid over the 10 years of the grant.
        GE Nuclear Energy is another grant recipient, taking $5.9 million over nine years to move from its Silicon Valley home in San Jose, Calif., to Wilmington. A unit of General Electric Power Systems, GE Nuclear Energy will be expanding its existing facility in Wilmington and will create 200 jobs.
        Charlotte is the new home of the headquarters of General Dynamics Armament & Technical Products (GDATP), a unit of General Dynamics Corp. GDATP moved its headquarters from Burlington, Vt., in September and will establish a light manufacturing operation in the Charlotte area this year.

BMW plans a $17-million R&D center at its Greer campus, one of two research centers the company will build in the Upstate.

        GDATP chose Charlotte from among 10 cities. The company may receive up to $5.9 million over 10 years if it makes good on its promise to create 405 jobs.
        Other companies receiving JDIG grants thus far:
        • Global aerospace and defense systems supplier Goodrich Corp. expects to add 125 to 150 jobs by late 2004 to staff a customer services facility in Monroe, near the company's Charlotte headquarters. The Monroe facility will serve as a major repair and manufacturing site for various Goodrich aerospace systems.
        • R.H. Donnelly Corp. is moving its corporate headquarters to the Raleigh-Durham area, creating 275 jobs. The company could receive up to $4.3 million over 10 years if it meets job creation targets. (See cover story, Nov. 2003.)
        • Infineon Technologies was the first company to cash in on JDIG by agreeing to locate its East Coast base in Cary. The semiconductor company could receive as much as $9.5 million over 11 years if it meets job creation requirements. The company plans to create 400 jobs at salaries averaging more than $75,000.