HENDERSON (AP) — A small North Carolina company with big backers plans to build a solar cell manufacturing plant employing more than 250 people after getting a promise of up to $18 million of tax breaks and other incentives.
The average wage at the plant is said to be $45,565 a year.
Gov. Bev Perdue’s office on Tuesday announced Durham-based Semprius Inc. will spend nearly $90 million to build the plant in the Vance County town of Henderson.
The company’s factory will make components that concentrate the sun’s energy and can then be used in solar systems built by utility companies and others. One of Semprius’s investors include German technology giant Siemens, which builds solar farms.
Semprius must hire 10 workers by the end of this year and 230 by the end of 2015 to keep the incentives from the state.
While individual wages for the 256 jobs will vary by job function, the overall average for the new jobs will be $45,565 a year, not including benefits. The Vance County average annual wage is $30,004.