Governor Roy Cooper announced today on Tuesday that JELD-WEN Holding, Inc., the global manufacturer of windows and doors, will create 235 jobs in Iredell County. The company will invest $7.9 million in Statesville to establish a new production facility for VPI Quality Windows.
VPI Quality Windows is a brand of JELD-WEN. The North Carolina facility will be VPI’s second manufacturing facility, and will enable JELD-WEN to better serve its expanding customer base. VPI has been a leading manufacturer of custom windows for multi-family and commercial applications for more than 25 years.
Headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., JELD-WEN is a leading global manufacturer of high-performance interior and exterior building products, offering one of the broadest selections of windows, interior and exterior doors, and wall systems. JELD-WEN currently employs more than 490 people at the Charlotte headquarters and Wilkes County.
The North Carolina Department of Commerce led the state’s efforts to support JELD-WEN’s decision to expand in North Carolina. The new positions will include management, operations support, and production staff. The average annual salary for all new positions is $51,648 creating a potential payroll impact of more than $12.1 million per year. Iredell County’s overall average annual salary is $51,136.
JELD-WEN’s expansion in North Carolina will be facilitated, in part, by a Job Development Investment Grant (JDIG) approved by the state’s Economic Investment Committee earlier today. Over the 12-year life of the grant, the project is estimated to grow the state’s economy by more than $492 million. Using a formula that takes into account the tax revenues generated by the 235 new jobs, the JDIG agreement authorizes the potential reimbursement to the company of up to $2,206,500 spread over 12 years.
Payments for all JDIGs only occur following performance verification by the departments of Commerce and Revenue that the company has met its incremental job creation and investment targets. By law, JDIG projects result in positive net tax revenue to the state treasury, even after taking into consideration the grant’s reimbursement payments to a given company.
Because JELD-WEN is expanding to Iredell County, classified by the state’s economic tier system as Tier 3, the company’s JDIG agreement will result in the allocation in as much as $735,000 into the state’s Industrial Development Fund – Utility Account. The Utility Account helps rural communities finance necessary infrastructure upgrades to attract future business and new jobs. When new jobs are created in a Tier 3 county such as Iredell, the new tax revenue generated through JDIG grants helps more economically distressed communities elsewhere in the state. More information on the state’s economic tier designations is available here.
In addition to the N.C. Department of Commerce and the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina, other key partners in the project include the North Carolina General Assembly, the North Carolina Community College System, Mitchell Community College, Iredell County, Iredell County Economic Development Corporation, the City of Statesville and the Charlotte Regional Business Alliance.