Gov. Perdue to make jobs announcement at Cree's RTP offices today

Gov. Perdue is scheduled to make an economic development announcement today at the Research Triangle Park offices of LED maker Cree Inc.

The announcement is scheduled for 1 p.m.

Last week the Durham County commissioners approved a $2 million economic incentive package for Cree to manufacture a new generation of LED chips in Durham County.

The Durham company is also considering sites in China and Malaysia for a $392 million expansion that would create an estimated 244 local jobs and 86 contract positions, and produce $8 million in county revenue, Durham Chamber of Commerce CEO Casey Steinbacher said.

Deputy County Manager Carolyn Titus said $825,000 would be reserved for job-training Durham residents to work on the new chips.

Also in attendance at today's event will be Sen. Richard Burr, Sen. Kay Hagan, Rep. David Price, Rep. Brad Miller and Vice Chair of the Durham County Commission Ellen Reckhow.

Cree has been hailed by local and national officials as being an example of American-created technology being manufactured in the U.S.

Vice President Joe Biden visited the company in March and said it was exactly the kind of products that the country needs to design, manufacture and export.

Last October, Cree announced that it would boost its local payroll by 575 workers.

At the time, the company made a point of saying it wasn't seeking state incentives for that expansion because the company needed to move quickly to meet orders for light modules for Chinese streetlights and other uses.

"We've already started hiring," CEO Chuck Swoboda said at the time. "Incentives are not the drivers of this business decision. This is about meeting demand from the customers."

That stance was notable because just five years earlier Cree considered putting operations in China unless North Carolina offered more than $5 million in incentives to hire here instead.

Cree has received nearly $1.6 million in incentives so far for the expansion announced in 2004.