By Ben Tobin – Greater Triangle Growth Reporter, Triangle Business Journal

A jewelry insurance company is investing millions of dollars to launch an “innovation hub” in Raleigh with hundreds of high-paying jobs.

Jewelers Mutual, founded in 1913 in Wisconsin, is planning to invest $5.85 million to create 200 jobs in the city. The project was unveiled Tuesday during a meeting of the state’s Economic Investment Committee, which approved a performance-based JDIG grant of $2.4 million tied to the investment.

The positions are expected to pay a minimum average wage of $169,592. Dallas was a finalist city for the investment alongside Raleigh, according to the committee.

Mark Poole, the director of the Commerce Finance Center for the North Carolina Department of Commerce, said during the meeting that talent pipeline, education systems, quality of life and the business and tax climate were components of the company’s decision to come to Raleigh.

This project represents the creation of a new U.S. innovation hub where the company can advance online, personalized customer engagement,” Poole said. “Jewelers Mutual will utilize this new location to hire more technical and engineering-related talent to develop data-driven solutions that advance a personalized customer experience.”

It wasn’t immediately clear where in Raleigh the company will establish operations.

Jewelers Mutual has over $643 million in assets. It provides standalone coverage and also offers business insurance for jewelry companies.

This is the most recent investment in Wake County, which hasn’t landed as many big job announcements as some of its surrounding counties this year.

In April, Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies announced an additional investment of $1.2 billion and 680 jobs for its already huge project in Holly Springs. This expansion brings Fujifilm Diosynth’s total planned investment in the Holly Springs facility to $3.2 billion.

Late last year, luxury Swiss watchmaker Audemars Piguet announced plans to invest $22 million and create 105 jobs at a new service center at Raleigh Iron Works.

The preceding article originally appeared on August 1, 2024 at the Triangle Business Journal’s website and is made available here for educational purposes only. This constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in Title 17 U.S.C. section 106A-117 of the U.S. Copyright Law.