Fidelity Investments, one of the world's largest providers of financial services, plans to invest $100 million to build a facility in the Research Triangle Park that will bring 2,000 jobs to Wake County. The state of North Carolina will support the project with grants from the One North Carolina Fund and Job Development Investment Grant (JDIG) program.

Fidelity Investments provides investment management, retirement planning, discount brokerage, and human resources and benefits outsourcing services to more than 22 million customers worldwide, as well as to thousands of institutions and financial advisers. It also is the largest mutual fund company in the United States.

The company currently has approximately 1,000 employees based in North Carolina, the vast majority of whom work in leased space on the eastern border of Research Triangle Park. Those employees will move to the new site once completed.

"We have had a tremendously positive experience in North Carolina since we first began doing business here in 2002," said Don Haile, senior vice president and site manager for Fidelity North Carolina. "This significant commitment from the state allows us to expand and diversify our operations to meet our growing business needs, and provides us access to a highly educated talent pool working in partnership with the community and its outstanding colleges and universities."

Fidelity employees at the site will work in several divisions of the company. Individual wages will vary by job function, ranging from entry-level positions to highly technical and senior management roles. The average annual compensation for the new jobs is expected to be at least $58,400 plus benefits.

The company has been awarded a $2 million grant from the state's One North Carolina Fund, as well as a Job Development Investment Grant. These two funds combined have helped create more than 30,000 jobs and an investment of more than $5 billion since 2001.

The One North Carolina Fund assists the state in industry recruitment and expansion by providing financial assistance to attract business projects that will stimulate economic activity and create new jobs. The grants are contingent upon a match by local authorities.

Fidelity Investments will receive the largest single JDIG ever awarded by the state Economic Investment Committee (EIC) to date and the single largest contribution to the Industrial Development Fund (IDF). The IDF provides grants for infrastructure improvements in lower-tiered, economically distressed areas of North Carolina. The contribution is required of grant recipients that locate in Tier 5 counties, which are more prosperous.

Under the terms of the JDIG agreement, approved earlier today by the EIC that oversees the program, a 12-year grant will be established.

For each year that the company meets required performance targets, the state will provide a grant equivalent to 75 percent of the state personal income withholding taxes derived from the creation of new jobs. If the organization creates all of the jobs called for under the agreement and sustains them for 12 years, Fidelity Investments could receive a maximum benefit of $54.6 million.

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