Baldor Electric Company plans to add 41 jobs and invest $17.7 million during the next three years as it expands its facility in McDowell County.

The maker of industrial electic motors, mechanical transmission products, drives and generators will be expanding its roller bearing manufacturing operations in its Marion facility. The Arkansas-based company already has 750 employees in North Carolina at facilities in Marion, Weaverville and Kings Mountain.

The average salary for the new jobs will be a little over $35,000 with benefits. The McDowell County average annual wage is $29,224.

A packaging manufacturer plans to expand in McDowell County and add 124 jobs over the next 18 months, Gov. Bev Perdue's office announced today.

RockTenn makes packaging products for the cosmetics, pharmaceutical and other industries. The company will expand into a new facility in Marion, about 215 miles west of Raleigh.

The company will receive an incentives grant from the One North Carolina fund worth as much as $372,000 if it meets hiring and investment targets. The grant also requires matching local incentives.

RockTenn now employs 233 workers in McDowell County and more then 1,000 across North Carolina.

The new jobs will pay average annual salaries of $33,023. That higher than the McDowell County average of $29,224.

Janesville Acoustics, a supplier of acoustical products for the car industry, is expanding its manufacturing facility in McDowell County and creating 40 jobs over the next three years.

The company said today that it would spend $1.5 million expanding its facility in Old Fort, about 100 miles northwest of Charlotte.

The facility currently employs 111 people.

Janesville received a $120,000 grant from the One North Carolina Fund.

The average annual wage for the new jobs will be $32,750 plus benefits.  The McDowell County average is $29,224.

Janesville's North American headquarters are in Michigan. The company's European headquarters are in Germany.

Janesville makes fiber products and molded carpet and floor systems for automobiles.