American Roller Bearing Industries, a Hickory-based manufacturer, plans to add 231 jobs at its facilities in Burke and Alexander counties over the next five years.

The company was awarded state incentives worth just over $2 million today if it meets hiring and investment goals. Burke and Alexander counties are also providing $800,000 in incentives.

ARB will spend $23.7 million expanding its existing facilities in Morganton and Hiddenite. The company currently employs 341 people in North Carolina.

The new jobs will pay average annual wages of $38,564. That's above both the Burke County average of $30,784, and the Alexander County average of $26,728.

Over 90 percent of the new jobs will be in Morganton, about 75 miles northwest of Charlotte. Both plants make anti-friction bearings used in a variety of different industries, including railroads, construction and mining.

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.

A steel processor is expanding its plant in Guilford County and adding 23 jobs over the next three years.

Coilplus will invest $12.7 million to expand its Greensboro facility, the company announced today.  The company will receive a $50,000 grant from the One North Carolina Fund if it meets job-creation and investment goals.

The average annual wage for the new jobs will be $42,947, plus benefits. That's above the Guilford County average of $39,520.

Coilplus is part of the global network of Metal One, which is owned by Mitsubishi and Sojitz Corporations.

Coilplus currently has 41 employees in Greensboro. As part of the expansion, Coilplus will add new equipment and double the square footage of the plant.

Acme-McCrary, a hosiery manufacturer, is relocating its warehouse and distribution facilities to Siler City and expects to add 100 jobs in the coming years.

The Chatham County Board of Commissioners approved an incentives package for the company worth up to $70,000 over five years if it meets hiring and investment goals.

Asheboro-based Acme-McCrary expects to invest about $500,000 in the 387,000-square-foot building. The company also expects to retain 42 employees already working in Siler City. 

Acme-McCrary makes hosiery and shapewear.

The relocation is good news for Siler City, which lost hundreds of jobs when the new owner of the Townsends chicken plant announced that those facilities would close.
 

A French manufacturer of plastic and laminated tubes used in a variety of industries plans to built a a manufacturing and distribution facility in Gaston County and create 131 jobs over four years.

CTL Packaging was awarded state incentives this afternoon worth up to $1.3 million if it meets investment and employment goals.

The average wage for the new jobs will be $42,466, above the Gaston County average of $33.956.

The company plans to invest $58.5 million in the Gastonia facility by 2015. Gaston County is donating land for the project and providing the company with $500,000.

This is CTL's first facility in the U.S. It also has two manufacturing facilities in Spain and one in France.

The company also considered sites in Virginia and South Carolina, according to state Department of Commerce officials.

The companies products are used in both the cosmetic and pharmaceutical industries, among others.

Zurn Industries, a manufacturer of engineered plumbing products, announced today it is expanding its Sanford plant and expects to create 38 jobs over the next three years.

The Erie, Penn.-based company received a $38,000 grant from the One North Carolina fund as part the expansion.

The average wage for the new jobs will be $33,356, plus benefits.  That's below the Lee County annual wage of $36,608.

Zurn makes and distributes plumbing products and accessories, including drainage systems, water control products, hydrants and fixtures.
 

Honda Aircraft announced Monday that it plans to spend $20 million building a jet maintenance facility at its headquarters in Greensboro.

The company already operates a manufacturing facility at the Greensboro Triad Airport.

The Japanese automaker announced in 2007 that it would build a $100 million operation in Greensboro to produce its first jet plane. The same year the company said it would also build a $27 million facility in Burlington to produce the company’s first jet engine.

Those deals were expected to create 420 well-paying jobs -- 70 in Alamance County and 350 in Guilford County.

Honda was lured to North Carolina initially by state and local officials of more than $11 million if it met hiring and investment goals.

The company received a $1 million grant from the One North Carolina fund for this latest expansion.

A textile manufacturer is expanding its plant in Kings Mountain and expects to create 62 jobs over the next three years.

Kings Plush, which does business in the state as Specialty Textiles, will spend $4.9 million expanding its Kings Mountain plant, which makes upholstery fabrics for residential furniture.

The company currently has 170 employees at the Cleveland County facility, located about 30 miles west of Charlotte.

Kings Plus received a $56,000 grant from the One North Carolina Fund.

The company said in a release that salaries for the new jobs will have an average annual payroll of $1.4 million, which works out to $22,580 per worker.

That's below the Cleveland County average of $30,710.

A Charlotte green technology company this morning was awarded as much as $11.7 million in state and local incentives for adding 250 jobs at its lithium ion battery plant in Cabarrus County.

The Economic Investment Committee at the N.C. Commerce Department unanimously approved the incentive award to Celgard in exchange for creating manufacturing jobs that pay an average wage of $37,912, above the county average. Gov. Bev Perdue is scheduled to make the jobs announcement at 10 a.m. in Concord, where Celgard is opening its facility to make membranes used in lithium-ion batteries.

Public officials are touting the Celgard expansion as the kind of development that will help establish North Carolina as a green energy hub. U.S Secretary of Energy Steven Chu, N.C. Department of Commerce Secretary Keith Crisco and other officials are expected to join Perdue at the facility's dedication ceremony.
 
Celgard, a division of the Charlotte-based Polypore International, now stands to receive as much as $21 million in state and local incentives for adding 539 jobs at the plant. The company qualified for up to $9.2 million in grants and incentives last year for a previous expansion at the Concord factory just north of Charlotte and about 150 miles west of Raleigh.

Gov. Bev Perdue's office put out a release this evening say she will appear in Cary Tuesday morning for a jobs announcement.

The location of the announcement, 111 Lord Dr., is the global headquarters for Lord Corp., a private company that makes adhesives and other products that control noise and vibrations in vehicles and heavy equipment.

Lord Corp. CEO Rick McNeel said in March that the company was expanding and would seek economic incentives from Cary and the state.

"It's the right thing to do for our shareholders," McNeel said at the time.

McNeel couldn't be reached for comment this evening.

Earlier this year, Lord's Board of Directors approved adding a 51,000-square-foot office building.

The company employs about 350 people in Cary. Although McNeel cut about 8 percent of Lord Corp.'s global work force in 2009, the company has resumed expanding.

The state's Economic Investment Committee, which approves incentives grants, is scheduled to meet at 9 a.m. Tuesday in Raleigh.