Gov. Bev Perdue announced today that Caterpillar Inc., the largest maker of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines, and industrial gas turbines in the world, will expand its manufacturing facilities in Lee County.
The company plans to create 325 jobs over the next four years. In addition, a company supplier is expected to locate 160 jobs in North Carolina as part of the expansion, bringing the total to 485 jobs. Caterpillar will invest $28.3 million as part of the project in Sanford, which was made possible in part by state grants from the Job Development Investment Grant program and One North Carolina Fund.
“For the second time in less than a week, Caterpillar is making a major investment in North Carolina and strengthening its ties as a corporate citizen of our state,” said Gov. Bev Perdue. “By expanding its stake in North Carolina, Caterpillar has demonstrated that our own investments in education, worker training, transportation and infrastructure have paid off. We have created the kind of business climate and workforce that is attracting new companies and encouraging the ones that are here to grow.”
Caterpillar currently employs 1,026 full-time workers in seven counties throughout the state. While individual wages for the 325 additional Caterpillar jobs will vary by job function, the overall average for the new jobs will be $35,602 a year, not including benefits.
Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) is headquartered in Illinois, and has nearly 300 operations in 40 countries and employs nearly 95,000 people. In Sanford, Caterpillar will expand existing operations which produce skid steer, compact track and multi-terrain loaders.
“The Sanford campus project provides Caterpillar with several key benefits that support our quest to constantly improve value for our customers,” said Mary Bell, Vice President of Caterpillar’s Building Construction Products Division. “We appreciate the support we received from our local partners and from the State of North Carolina for our growth strategy,”
“This is the kind of news we hope to hear during a tough economy,” said Sen. Bob Atwater, whose district includes Lee County, “and it reaffirms that North Carolina has set the right priorities to make our state a place where companies want to do business.”
“Companies need an educated, skilled workforce,” said Rep. Jimmy Love, of Sanford, “and they know that, thanks to our investments in education and training, North Carolina is the place to find those workers.”
To help facilitate this expansion, the company has been awarded a $600,000 grant from the state’s One North Carolina Fund. This fund provides cash grants to attract business projects deemed by the governor to be vital to a healthy and growing state economy. No money is paid up front and companies must meet job creation and investment targets to receive payments. One North Carolina Fund grants also require a local match, and this grant is contingent upon approval of local incentives.
Also, the state Economic Investment Committee today voted to award a Job Development Investment Grant to Caterpillar. JDIGs 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.
Under the terms of the JDIG, the company is eligible to receive a grant equal to 75 percent of the state personal income withholding taxes derived from the creation of new jobs for each of the 11years in which the company meets annual performance targets. If Caterpillar meets the targets called for under the agreement and sustains them for 11 years, the JDIG could yield $3.46 million in maximum benefits for the company.
In addition, up to $611,000 could be added to the state’s Industrial Development Fund for infrastructure improvements in economically distressed counties. When a JDIG is awarded in Tier 2 counties such as Lee, 15 percent of the grant is allocated to this fund to encourage economic development in less prosperous areas.
Other partners who assisted with this project include: the N.C. Department of Commerce, N.C. Community Colleges, Lee County and the Golden LEAF Foundation.
Through Gov. Perdue’s JobsNOW initiative, the state continues to work aggressively to create well-paying jobs, train and retrain its workforce, and lay the foundation for a strong and sustainable economic future.
For more information about Caterpillar, including job opportunities, visit www.cat.com.