(The Center Square) – Nearly $80 million in incentives has brought North Carolina another pharmaceutical plant.
Janssen Biotech, subsidiary of global giant Johnson & Johnson, was granted a combined $50 million package from the city and county of Wilson, and the state Commerce Department’s Economic Investment Committee approved $29.9 million. A factory creating 420 jobs is scheduled for completion by the end of 2028, the company said.
Wilson, on the Interstate 95 corridor less than an hour from Raleigh-Durham International Airport, beat out Frederick, Md., the state said.
The state incentives include a $13.6 million job development investment grant.
Commerce officials say the project will increase state tax revenues by an estimated $70 million, producing return on investments for the state of 262%. This means that for $1 spent by the state, it will receive $3.62 in revenue.
The jobs at the plant will have an average salary of $108,000, which is more than twice the current average in the county.
Economists question the effectiveness of financial incentives to private businesses to expand or come to a new state. The use of hourly or annual wages 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.
The Janssen project is the latest in a flurry of new biotech industries in Wilson.
Last month, the city announced that Reckitt Benckiser Health, a British company, will invest $145 million to build a production facility for the product Mucinex, employing 159 people.
Another biotech company, Neopac, announced a $10 million expansion in Wilson, that will add 27 jobs.
Both companies will train employees at the new $30 million Biologics Training Facility at Wilson Community College, the city said.
Idexx Laboratories, a medical device firm, in July announced plans to build a $147 million plant employing 275. In March, Wilson landed SCHOTT Pharma’s new $371 million syringe plant.
