By Ben Tobin, Greater Triangle Growth Reporter for the Triangle Business Journal
A multinational company that manufactures and distributes pet health products has selected an Eastern North Carolina city for a sizable expansion.
IDEXX Operations, a subsidiary of Maine-based IDEXX Laboratories (Nasdaq: IDXX), is planning to build a new manufacturing plant in Wilson. The company will invest roughly $147 million to create 275 jobs, with the minimum average wage above $65,000.
The project was announced Tuesday during a meeting of the North Carolina Department of Commerce’s Economic Investment Committee. The committee voted to approve a performance-based JDIG incentive grant of a little more than $3.87 million, with other state and local incentives going to the project.
North Carolina’s main competition for the project was the greater Atlanta area.
The committee said the plant will manufacture veterinary diagnostic products to help increase operational capacity and provide supply chain resiliency. IDEXX Laboratories employs roughly 11,000 people across six continents with customers in 175 countries.
The move marks a major win for Wilson, a former tobacco hub that is looking to attract more residents and build a more diverse economy. Wilson County has just shy of 79,000 residents, and the median household income is $49,827.
This isn’t the only investment Wilson has secured recently.
In March, German company Schott Pharma unveiled plans to invest $371 million in a factory that will produce glass and polymer pre-fillable syringes. The facility is expected to create 400 jobs in Wilson by 2030, with a minimum average wage of $57,868.
Downtown Wilson is set to transform in the years ahead as the city pushes to build a new baseball stadium as part of a larger mixed-use development. The stadium would be the new home of the Carolina Mudcats.
Also, a 5-story apartment complex recently opened in downtown Wilson.
UPDATE: IDEXX Operations buys land for 275-job plant in Eastern NC
Ben Tobin covers real estate and economic development in the Greater Triangle, focusing on the counties outside Wake and Durham. Have a tip? Reach him at btobin@bizjournals.com or (919) 327-1012. This article originally appeared on July 23, 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.
