Triangle technology company Avaya will add 135 high-paying jobs over four years in exchange for nearly $1.7 million in state incentives, state officials said this afternoon.
Basking Ridge, N.J.-based Avaya is the company that two years ago bought a division from bankrupt Nortel Networks for $933 milion, assuring continued employment for 230 Nortel workers in Research Triangle Park.
Avaya, which makes advanced phone systems for businesses, employs 304 in North Carolina today, including 193 in RTP. The 135 jobs to be added between 2012 and 2015 will pay an average wage of $87,704, which is above the Durham County average of $61,256.
Avaya is expanding its site, formerly occupied by Nortel, with a new marketing and sales hub equipped with a video communications demonstation center. The company will bring in 15 employees from other locations, but most of the hires will be local.
John Murawski has been a full-time newspaper reporter since 1991, with stints at Legal Times and The Chronicle of Philanthropy (both in Washington, DC), The Philadelphia Inquirer and The Palm Beach Post (in South Florida) before arriving at the N&O in December 2004. At the N&O he covers energy (nuclear, coal, renewable, efficiency), hydralic fracturing (or "fracking"), public utilities (both electric and natural gas) and health care. His beat includes Progress Energy, PSNC Energy, Piedmont Natural Gas, PowerSecure International, GlaxoSmithKline, Merck, Novo Nordisk, Pfizer, Biogen Idec and others. You can reach him at 919-829-8932 or