Gov. Bev Perdue today announced that ASCO Power Technologies plans to add 328 jobs over the next five years at its Welcome manufacturing operations. The company, which will invest $11.4 million to expand the Davidson County facility, is a world-leading manufacturer of power switching and control products designed to ensure reliable back-up electrical power for critical operations.
“During these challenging economic times, top-quality companies such as ASCO Power Technologies recognize that North Carolina is a great place to grow their business and create jobs,” said Gov. Perdue. “I’m committed to investing in more opportunities that will attract business to North Carolina, create jobs, and expand our homegrown companies.”
ASCO Power Technologies is a subsidiary of Emerson, a global manufacturing and technology company whose 2009 first quarter sales exceeded $5 billion. ASCO’s products include automatic transfer switches and power systems that protect hospitals, data centers and telecommunications networks.
The company currently employs 211 people in North Carolina: 190 at the Welcome manufacturing plant and 21 at a Cary sales office. The 328 new workers will be paid an average annual wage of $43,924, not including benefits, by the time all the employees are hired in 2013. (The average will be lower during the first few years of the hiring process.) Davidson County’s average yearly wage is $29,432.
The state’s Economic Investment Committee met today and voted unanimously to award a Job Development Investment Grant to ASCO to facilitate this expansion. This is the first JDIG awarded in 2009.
For each year in which the company meets the required performance targets, the state will provide a grant equal to 60 percent of the state personal income withholding taxes derived from the creation of new jobs. Should the company create the jobs called for under the agreement and sustain them for nine years, the agreement could yield as much as $2.54 million in maximum benefits for ASCO.
In addition, the grant could provide up to $450,000 to the Industrial Development Fund for infrastructure improvements in economically distressed counties. When a Job Development Investment Grant is awarded to one of the state’s more economically prosperous counties such as Davidson, 15 percent of the grant award is allocated to the Industrial Development Fund to encourage economic development in less prosperous counties.
Job Development Investment Grants are awarded only to new and expanding businesses and industrial projects whose benefits exceed the costs to the state and which would not be undertaken in North Carolina without the grant. Since the first grant was awarded in 2003, the program has been responsible for creating commitments for more than 30,000 jobs and $5 billion in investment in North Carolina.
Other partners who assisted with this announcement include: the N.C. Department of Commerce, N.C. Community Colleges, Davidson County, DavidsonWorks and the N.C. Employment Security Commission.
For more information about ASCO Power Technologies, including employment opportunities, visit www.asco.com/home.htm.