DURHAM — Corning is set to announce its new manufacturing facility in Durham, expected to bring 300 jobs to the area, with projected salaries averaging more than $65,000 annually. The facility will make Corning Valor Glass, a pharmaceutical packaging product designed to ensure safe containment and shipping of medications. Corning expects to invest about $190 million in the Durham project.
On hand for the announcement press conference on Wednesday morning will be Corning Chairman and CEO Wendell Weeks and Executive Vice President Eric Musser, along with state and local officials.
Corning is a manufacturing company with expertise in glass science, ceramics science and optical physics. It’s a big employer in North Carolina and this announcement adds to its footprint in the state. Wednesday’s announcement is the second of two expansions by the company that were announced in December. The other is a state-of-the-art warehouse facility slated for Edgecombe County with more than 100 jobs. According to the N.C. Department of Commerce, Corning will invest a total of $275 million between the two sites.
The expansion announcements come after Corning was awarded state and county grant money for economic development. Two Job Development Investment Grants (JDIGs) approved by the state’s Economic Investment Committee authorize the potential reimbursement to the company of up to $3,215,250, spread over 12 years. Over the course of the 12-year terms of each grant, the projects are expected to add an estimated $1.157 billion to the state economy.
The state only pays the tax reimbursement after the departments of Commerce and Revenue verify that the company has met its incremental job creation and investment targets.
