A Golsboro-based food service distributor plans to open a new facility in Iredell County and create 49 jobs over the next three years.

Pate Dawson Company will invest $8.5 million to open the plant in Statesville. The company will receive a $150,000 grant from the One North Carolina Fund if it meets hiring and investment goals.

Pate Dawson currently employs 390 people at its distribution plants in Goldsboro and Greensboro. The company delivers food to chain and independent restaurants across the Southeast.

The average annual wage for the new jobs will be $47,531, plus benefits.  That's above the Iredell County average of $36,348.