(The Center Square) – Taxpayer assistance of $200,000 from the One North Carolina Fund is tied to a packaging manufacturer starting a new facility in Greensboro.
Clearly Clean Products, headquartered in Pennsylvania, is doubling production capacity to meet demand of its poultry customers. The company and state say annual payroll impact to the region will be $1.6 million.
“This new facility will allow us to increase our commitment to sustainability as we continue to expand the ability of our customers to participate in a nature-friendly circular economy,” CEO Jimmy Herring said in a release.
The grant is dependent on Clearly Clean investing $24.9 million in capital. The One NC Fund is an economic arm helping incentivize companies to do business in the state. Local governments are required to participate fiscally in these grants.
“I’m confident the company will flourish here thanks to our business-friendly climate,” said state Senate President Pro Tempore Phil Berger, R-Rockingham.
Clearly Clean manufactures plastic food trays for the meat and produce industry that are 100% recyclable. The company says it will create a minimum of 80 new jobs in Guilford County. As of 2023, the Orwigsburg, Pennsylvania, company founded in 2006 and financed through private equity has less than 40 employees.
The state Department of Commerce says average annual wage is estimated to be $59,006, and says the county average is $58,843.
The department justifies incentives based upon new jobs businesses will bring to the state, announcing the average hourly wage for the new jobs and comparing it to the median hourly wage of the county.
Economists question the effectiveness of financial incentives to private businesses to expand or come to a new state.
The use of hourly wage as an indicator is questioned because salaries of a few corporate leaders can skew the average higher while it would not have the same impact on the median wage.
