Governor McCrory Announces 460 Jobs for Craven County

Governor Pat McCrory, North Carolina Commerce Secretary John E. Skvarla, III, and the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina (EDPNC) announced today that BSH Home Appliances Corporation plans to create 460 new jobs in Craven County during the next five years and invest nearly $80.7 million at the current site through the end of 2019.


“The expansion of BSH in Craven County is evidence that our improvements to North Carolina’s business climate and workforce development are helping ensure our manufacturing economy is firing on all cylinders,” said Governor McCrory. “We salute the continued growth and success of this prestigious name in Eastern North Carolina’s business community.”


BSH Home Appliances is a wholly owned subsidiary of BSH Hausgeräte GmbH, headquartered in Munich, Germany. The company is the largest manufacturer of home appliances in Europe and one of the leading companies in the sector worldwide. BSH Home Appliances manufactures small and major home appliances that are known across North America for their high-quality and superior innovation. Headquartered in Irvine, CA.,  BSH Home Appliances built its first plant in New Bern in 1997 and has since undertaken several expansion projects. BSH facilities in New Bern produce and distribute dishwashers, ovens, ranges and cooktops. Its existing North Carolina workforce totals more than 1,000 employees.


“Companies like BSH are the reason why North Carolina leads the southeastern U.S. in manufacturing employment,” said Secretary Skvarla. “The company’s expansion is a credit to the workforce in Craven County, but also to the global accessibility, infrastructure, business-savvy leadership and quality of life it has found here.”


BSH will expand its central distribution and call center operations in New Bern. New positions will include production personnel, logistics specialists, administrative and other staff. While the salaries of the new positions will vary, salaries will average no less than $42,188, which is well above Craven County’s current average annual wage of $34,897. 


“The investment BSH Home Appliances will make to expand its manufacturing, central distribution and call center operations in New Bern exemplifies our ongoing commitment to the State of North Carolina,” said Frank Rebmann, commercial director at BSH Home Appliances. “We would like to thank the State of North Carolina and Craven County for its support of this important expansion.”


BSH Home Appliance’s expansion in Craven County will be facilitated, in part, by an award to the company from the state’s Job Development Investment Grant (JDIG) program that was approved by the state’s Economic Investment Committee today. Under the terms of the company’s JDIG, BSH is eligible to receive up to nearly $4.1 million in total reimbursements. Payments will occur in annual installments over 12 years pending verification by NC Commerce and NC Revenue that the company has met incremental job creation and investment targets. JDIGs reimburse new and expanding companies a portion of the newly created tax-base with the goal of increasing the overall tax benefit to the State of North Carolina.


By law, JDIG projects must result in a net revenue inflow to the state treasury over the life of the award. For projects in Tier 2 counties such as Craven County, 15 percent of the award amount is directed to the state’s Industrial Development Fund – Utility Account to help finance economic infrastructure in less populated counties. BSH Home Appliance’s expansion could provide as much as $455,200 in new funds for the Utility Account. More information on county tier designations is available at http://www.nccommerce.com/Portals/0/Incentives/CountyTier/2015%20Development%20Tier%20Rankings.pdf.


“Today’s announcement by BSH Home Appliance is evidence that Craven County is doing its part to keep North Carolina the Southeast’s #1 manufacturing state,” said N.C. Senator Norman Sanderson. “I commend the company and the county for their continued success.”


“Congratulations to BSH for the exciting expansion it is about to undertake,” said N.C. Representative George Graham.  “We appreciate the company’s choice of Craven County for these new jobs and investment.”


Several partners joined NC Commerce and EDPNC in supporting BSH Home Appliance’s expansion. They include the North Carolina Community College System, the Eastern Carolina Workforce Development Board, Craven County and the Craven 100 Alliance.