Celgard, a clean energy firm, will invest $105 million to expand production capacity at its new Concord, NC plant and will hire an additional 250 employees during the next two years.
While salaries will vary by job function, the overall average wage for the jobs will be $37,912, excluding benefits. The Cabarrus annual average is $32,448, according to the office of NC Gov. Bev Perdue. Celgard broke ground for the Concord plant in September. So far, the company has invested $122 million in Concord and employs 304 workers there.
The company, a subsidiary of Charlotte-based Polypore International Inc has 330 workers at a Charlotte operation in southwest Charlotte.
If the company meets its target of adding 250 jobs in Concord, it will be eligible to receive up to $2.3 million in job-development investment grants from the state. Celgard also has been awarded $500,000 from the One North Carolina Fund, which assists the state in industry recruitment and expansion by providing financial assistance through local governments to attract business projects deemed by the governor to be vital to a growing state economy.
Perdue announced the plant expansion Monday morning in Concord.
“Celgard is an innovative North Carolina company that is helping us realize the promise of a greener economy,” she said. “We are able to create these ‘green-collar’ jobs, and other skilled jobs across the state, because we have invested in education and built an educated, skilled work force.”
Celgard develops and manufactures specialty membranes used predominantly in the lithium-battery industry. The expansion in Concord will increase production to supply lithium battery manufacturers focused on the electric-drive vehicle industry.
“We are excited about our plans for an additional expansion of our Concord facility,” says Celgard President Mitch Pulwer. “Celgard and our parent company, Polypore, are truly global, but we feel right at home in the Charlotte-Concord corridor. We are thankful for the support we have received from Governor Perdue, the North Carolina congressional delegation, and county and local governments that will enable us to continue our investments in production capacity and create jobs here in North Carolina as we prepare to meet the increasing demand of the electric-drive vehicle market.”
