WAVY.com
Please enter a search term.
Please enter a search term.
by: Steve Doyle
Posted:
Updated:
by: Steve Doyle
Posted:
Updated:
SILER CITY, N.C. (WGHP) – Wolfspeed Inc, a company that manufactures semiconductors that are used in EV charging stations and many other products, received nearly $800 million in state and local incentives to open a facility in Chatham County that will add hundreds of high-paying jobs.
The Department of Commerce’s Economic Investment Committee unanimously approved state funding contributions that will total $159.1 million, and the county and Siler City have chipped in another $600 million, the committee heard this morning.
The state’s contributions include more than $86 million in regular investment grants, a variety of supplementary grants and about $57 million budgeted to assist with site development.
This follows the earlier announcement that VinFast, a Vietnamese auto manufacturer, would build its electric vehicles at a facility in Chatham County. And there were prior state grants to lure Toyota’s battery plant to the Greensboro Randolph Megasite, Boom Supersonic to Piedmont Triad International Airport and other peripheral investments in the electric vehicle development.
Wolfspeed will invest more than $5 billion by 2030 and add 1,802 employees between 2026 and 2030. These positions will pay an average minimum salary of $77,753.
The company already employs 3,023 statewide – at the Research Triangle Park, Durham and Fayetteville – and the grant requires that base to be maintained.
In beating out Marcy, New York, where Wolfspeed has a large facility, North Carolina should realize $17.5 billion added to the state’s gross domestic product by 2045 and $312 million in additional state revenue.
Because of the size of this investment, the project is considered high-yield and will be paid out over 20 years. If the company fails to meet its requirements, that would revert to a traditional 12-year grant, the committee was told.
Copyright 2022 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.