The JDIG initiative awards up to 15 grants annually to strategically important new and expanding businesses and industrial projects.

These grants are only awarded to projects whose benefits exceed their costs to the state, and which would not locate in North Carolina without the grant.

Cumulative annual grant amounts are capped at $10 million.

During the next four years, A.F.G. Wipes expects to invest between $25 million and $30 million in its new manufacturing facility and create about 200 jobs.

“Our vision is to establish a leading position in the wet wipes industry,” said Amnon Brodie, president and CEO of Albaad Massuot Yitzhak Ltd., who will serve as president of A.F.G. Wipes Inc. “Our company has sought a manufacturing anchor in the U.S. market to drive future growth and North Carolina and Rockingham County have shown strong support in our effort to locate this facility and bring these jobs to the state.”

Under the terms of the agreement, a 10-year grant will be established. For each year in which the company meets the required performance targets, the state will provide a grant equal to 60 percent of the personal state withholding taxes derived from the creation of new jobs.

If the company creates all of the jobs called for under the agreement and sustains them for 10 years, the agreement could yield maximum benefits to the company of as much as $1.6 million.

During the life of the grant, the North Carolina Department of Commerce estimates the project will generate a cumulative gross state product value of more than $194 million, and produce a cumulative net state fiscal impact of $750,000.

Also taking advantage of the JDIG program is GE Nuclear Energy, which will relocate its global headquarters from San Jose, Calif., to Wilmington, N.C., a move that will create 200 jobs with an investment of about $4 million. Estimated total compensation for the new positions will average $100,000 a year.

GE Nuclear Energy, a unit of General Electric Power Systems, will continue its headquarters transition through 2005. The company will expand its existing facility in Wilmington, which already employs nearly 1,600 workers from GE’s Aircraft Engines and Nuclear Energy divisions.

Wilmington was selected from among several other cities considered by GE.

“Since first locating our fuel business unit in Wilmington, the environment in the state of North Carolina has been excellent and has laid the foundation for locating our global headquarters here,” said Andrew White, president and CEO of GE Nuclear Energy.

Under the terms of the JDIG agreement, a nine-year grant will be established. During the life of the grant, the Department of Commerce estimates the project will generate a cumulative gross state product increase of about $359 million; create 200 direct jobs and 760 total jobs in the state; and contribute nearly $2 million to the state’s Industrial Development Fund for infrastructure improvements in rural North Carolina — a requirement of grant recipients who locate in a Tier 5 urban county.

For each year in which GE Nuclear Energy meets the required performance targets, the state will provide a grant equal to 70 percent of the personal state withholding taxes derived from the creation of new jobs.

If the company creates all of the jobs called for under the agreement and sustains them for nine years, the agreement could yield maximum benefits to the company of as much as $5.9 million.

Publishing Company To Benefit from Grant Program

In July, R.H. Donnelley Corp. announced its intention to relocate its corporate headquarters to North Carolina, a move that will create 275 jobs during the next three years. It is moving its headquarters from Purchase, N.Y., and Overland Park, Kan., to the Raleigh-Durham area.

R.H. Donnelley, the largest public stand-alone publisher of yellow pages directories in the country, will also derive benefit from the JDIG program.

“The economic incentive grant from North Carolina’s JDIG program was pivotal to our decision to relocate to Raleigh-Durham,” said David C. Swanson, chairman and CEO of R.H. Donnelley.

R.H. Donnelley already has a presence in North Carolina. It operates a publishing facility in Morrisville that employs 240 workers, and has six sales offices throughout the state. Overall, the company employs more than 1,400 people in 19 states.

The company considered locations in New York, Kansas, Missouri and Florida before deciding to locate in North Carolina.

The company expects to move to North Carolina in early 2004 and be fully operational by April. It will initially employ 140 workers, with estimated salaries for the positions averaging $63,000, and will add another 135 jobs by 2006.

R.H. Donnelley, founded 116 years ago in Chicago, became an independent public company in 1998 when it spun off from The Dun & Bradstreet Corp.

Under the terms of the agreement authorized unanimously by the state Economic Investment Committee, a 10-year grant will be established.

For each year in which the company meets the required performance targets, the state will provide a grant equal to 65 percent of the personal state withholding taxes derived from the creation of new jobs.

If the company creates all of the jobs called for under the agreement and sustains them for 10 years, the agreement could yield maximum benefits to the company of as much as $4.3 million.

Another incentive helped convince Penn Ventilation-Lau Industries to invest between $1.5 million and $2 million to expand its Tabor City facility. The project means 60 new jobs at the site.

The company will transfer the product lines from its Junction City, Ky., facility, which is slated for closure, to Tabor City.

Products being transferred include the line of Dynamo Centrifugal fans, two complete lines of filtered supply fans for use in the food service industry, as well as several assembly lines involved in the manufacture of prop-style ventilation fans.

As a result of its decision, the company will receive $57,000 in One N.C. Funds and an incentive package from the local community.

— Bill King, Chief Editor