Gov. Bev Perdue today announced that Siemens Energy Inc., an international supplier of products and services for the generation, transmission and distribution of power, will expand its operations in Mecklenburg County. The company plans to invest nearly $50 million and create 226 jobs in Charlotte during the next five years.
“North Carolina is an international leader in innovative power and energy production, research and design,” Gov. Perdue said. “Our state continues to be attractive to leading-edge global companies looking to invest and expand here, thanks to our top-rated business climate, world-class research facilities, and skill and knowledge-based workforce.”
The state’s Economic Investment Committee met today and voted unanimously to award a Job Development Investment Grant to Siemens Energy to facilitate this expansion. Under terms of the performance-based grant, the average annual wage of the 226 new jobs will start at $49,082 in 2009 and increase to $66,463 in 2013, not including benefits. That compares favorably with the Mecklenburg County average wage of $49,400.
Siemens Energy Inc., headquartered in Orlando, Fla., is part of the Siemens AG global network of companies. The company develops and builds fossil-fueled power plants and power-generating components as well as wind turbines, turbines for use as mechanical drives and compressors for industrial applications. It also offers operations and maintenance and management services for its own technology and for other manufacturers. Instrumentation and control systems, as well as air pollution control technologies, are also part of the Siemens Energy portfolio.
With operations in Wendell, the company is also a leading supplier of high- and medium-voltage power delivery equipment, energy management systems, network planning and power system engineering software for regulated and deregulated generation, transmission and distribution markets.
Siemens currently employs 780 workers at the project location in Charlotte, and has separate operations in Wake County and Forsyth County. The new jobs in Charlotte will include engineering employees and manufacturing workers. The engineering group will be housed in a 75,000-square-foot office facility, to be built adjacent to the existing manufacturing plant where the project’s other workers will be employed.
“The U.S. is Siemens’ largest market, and that’s why we’ve long been committed to expanding our presence and investment here. We already supply the power systems that provide one-third of the nation’s electricity, and through this expansion in Charlotte, we will be able to continue bringing efficient and competitive power-generation options to our U.S. and Americas-based customers,” said Randy Zwirn, president and CEO of Siemens Energy Inc. “We’ve had a presence in the Charlotte area and in other areas in North Carolina for decades, and it was our first-hand knowledge of the excellent business environment here that convinced us to expand our investment further. We owe many thanks to the State of North Carolina for its ongoing dedication to our business success.”
For each of the grant’s nine years 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. If the company creates the jobs called for under the agreement and sustains them for nine years, the agreement could yield as much as $2.74 million in maximum benefits for Siemens Energy and up to $915,000 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 Mecklenburg, 25 percent of the grant award is allocated to the Industrial Development Fund to encourage economic development in less prosperous counties.
“Even during these tough economic times, Charlotte continues to attract new jobs to the area because of our tremendous workforce and business climate,” said Sen. Charlie Dannelly.
“Our top-notch workforce continues to attract global companies that are looking to invest in and expand their operations in North Carolina. We welcome these new jobs to Charlotte,” said Rep. Kelly Alexander.
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 $6.1 billion in investment in North Carolina.
Other partners who assisted with this announcement include: the N.C. Department of Commerce, the N.C. Department of Revenue, N.C. Community Colleges, the City of Charlotte, Mecklenburg County and the Charlotte Chamber of Commerce.
For more information about Siemens Energy Inc., including employment opportunities with the company, go to: www.siemens.com/energy.