Medical-device maker Becton Dickinson plans to open an East Coast distribution center in the Johnston County town of Four Oaks, creating 187 jobs by 2015.

Gov. Bev Perdue made the announcement this morning during a news conference at Four Oaks Elementary School.

The publicly traded company will receive a $600,000 grant from the state's One North Carolina Fund.

The jobs will pay average annual salaries of $28,771. That's below the Johnston County average of $31,408.

State officials said today the BD jobs are high quality, particularly given the current economic climate.

"In this economic environment we are trying to create good jobs for people," said Deborah Barnes, a spokesperson for the N.C. Department of Commerce.

"Just because they're slightly below the county average does not mean it's not a good job. It's certainly not a minimum wage job."

The company expects to begin hiring in 2012.

BD will be the first tenant at a nearly 400-acre industrial park at exit 87 off I-95, just north of the intersection of I-40. Officials hope that BD will help them attract other businesses to the long-delayed park.

The company also considered sites in South Carolina and Virginia.

A Florida company that makes construction materials plans to build a new plant in Roxboro and create 89 jobs over the next three years.

Gov. Bev Perdue announced today that Tampa, Fla.-based CertainTeed Gypsum will build a wallboard manufacturing facility in Person County.  The company has been awarded a $300,000 grant from the One North Carolina Fund.

CertainTeed will investment $160 million over three years to build the plant. Salaries for the new jobs will average $55,247, not including benefits. 

The Person County average annual wage is $30,524.

CertainTeed makes gypsum wallboard and other products used in commercial and residential construction.

The N.C. Global TransPark in Kinston announced today the name of a Spirit AreoSystems supplier that has located in the park.

DB Schenker, a New York company that provides logistics support for Spirit's raw materials needs, has been operating out of a Global TransPark warehouse since April.

The company is leasing 19,000 square feet and expects to eventually provide 40 full-time jobs.

DB Schenker signed a 5-year lease to provide logistics support for Spirit, which is making fuselage sections and other components for a new Airbus plane scheduled to hit the market in 2013.

Earlier this month Spirit officially opened its 500,000-square-foot plant in the Global TransPark.

"DB Schenker's arrival at the GTP signals the continuing impact of Spirit's opening, as well as the GTP's potential to expand as an aerospace center," said Darlene Waddell, the park's executive director, in a statement.

Readers reacted strongly to Sunday’s story about businesses leaving Orange County and taking commercial tax revenue with them.

“I have seen all this happen for years,” said Durham native Aaron Thompson, who lives in Hillsborough and works at the Durham Performing Arts Center. “We are looking to move back to Durham because for a resident Orange County does not have anything here that’s worth paying the taxes that we have to pay.”

Other readers agreed the loss of commercial tax base has been an ongoing problem.

“I have lived here for 25 years and it has not changed!” one wrote in an e-mail.

A publicly traded paper company plans to build a new factory in Shelby, about 45 miles west of Charlotte, and create 250 jobs over five years.



Clearwater Paper announced earlier this month that it wanted to build a new facility in the Southeast to make private-label tissue products for retail grocery chains throughout the Southeast and along the East Coast.

The Spokane, Wash.-based company also considered sites in Macon, Ga., Chester, S.C., and Chattanooga, Tenn.

In Raleigh this morning, N.C. Commerce officials approved giving the company incentives worth up $3.5 million if it meets its hiring goals.

The state's economic development agency will soon have a new public face.

Tim Crowley, a deputy communications director for Gov. Bev Perdue, will become the N.C. Department of Commerce's assistant secretary for communications on July 1. He replaces Kathy Neal, who has held the job for three years and is leaving to pursue a career in health care.

Crowley will oversee Commerce's public affairs office and manage all communications related to new economic project announcements and public records requests from the media. The office receives about 1,000 media inquiries a year.

He'll also help edit speeches and other material for Commerce secretary J. Keith Crisco and other officials.

Crowley joined Perdue's team as communications director when she was lieutenant governor. He previously was a producer for UNC-TV.

The Orange County Board of Commissioners acknowledged they don't have
rock-solid science to defend it, but they went ahead and approved a new
boundary for the Upper Eno Watershed Critical Area Tuesday night.

Responding to criticism from a February public hearing, county staff
exempted about 200 acres near I-40/85 in Efland because of its prime
potential for commercial development.

But Steve Yuhasz, the only commissioner to vote against the critical
area, insisted that thousands of acres south of the interstate should
also be excluded. The original watershed as defined in 1994 presupposed
the potential for a Seven Mile Creek reservoir in that area which the
county is no longer planning.

"I have some real problems with this proposal," Yuhasz said.
"Protecting a reservoir isn't part of what's going on here. It's not
something that speaks to protection of water quality. There's something
going on here that just doesn't make a lot of sense to me."

Economic development was the key theme in the spring Democratic primary campaign for Orange County commissioner. The topic recently grabbed hold of some county staffers, who wondered why Orange government has a contract for paper supplies through Office Depot, which has no presence in Orange County.

It seems even county personnel do their shopping in Durham.

"Can we purchase paper from Staples, here in Orange County?" wrote county financial-services coordinator Deb Smith in an e-mail to purchasing-agent David Cannell. "Clarence (Grier, county finance director) would like to see the sales tax stay here in Orange County."

Unfortunately, there's no "easy button" for that. The Office Depot contract is in effect through the end of the year.

State lawmakers moved another step closer to approving tax breaks to lure five companies considering expansion in North Carolina.

The Senate gave preliminary approval today to a set of tax incentives meant to lure two data centers, a turbine maker and a paper plant, Ben Niolet reports on our Under the Dome blog.

Sen. Dan Clodfelter, a Charlotte Democrat, told a Senate committee Wednesday that the state would have to give up $9 million in taxes next year and $14 million in the following year.

The lost tax revenue is worth the investment and jobs created by the new business, Clodfelter said.

This morning area leaders heard just how hard the Research Triangle has been hit by the global recession. But they also heard about the silver lining.

Attendees at the annual State of the Research Triangle Region forum learned that employment in the region fell by 46,435 last year. The good news? Companies planning to relocate or expand within the 13 county area announced a record $1.9 billion in investments and the creation of 10,000 jobs.