Nestle Purina PetCare Company plans to establish significant new manufacturing and distribution operations in Rockingham County that will become operational in 2022 and create up to 300 new jobs.
The company will invest $450 million in a 1,300 acre site near Eden that formerly housed MillerCoors brewery, where it will manufacture and distribute Purina pet food.
Headquartered in St. Louis, Mo, Purina has been a trusted name among U.S. pet owners for nearly a century. Its brands include Purina ONE, Pro Plan and Dog Chow and Tidy Cats.
The company’s sales totaled $9.4 billion in the Americas in 2019, and it employs more than 8,000 workers across 21 U.S. production sites. Since 2001, Purina has been part of Nestle S.A., a global leader in nutrition, health and wellness based in Vevey, Switzerland.
Nestle Purina will operate at the location of a former industrial brewery near Eden, where its pet food manufacturing facility will employ production operators, warehouse personnel, quality control technicians and other staff.
New positions will offer wages averaging $42,053 per year, creating a $12.6 million annual payroll impact for the region. Rockingham County’s overall average annual wage is $35,146.
The arrival of Nestle Purina PetCare 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 term of the grant, the project is estimated to grow North Carolina’s GDP by nearly $2 billion.
Using a formula that takes into account new tax revenues generated by the 300 new jobs, the JDIG agreement authorizes a potential reimbursement to the company of up to $4.31 million over 12 years. State payments occur only after verification by the departments of Commerce and Revenue that the company has met incremental job creation and investment targets.
Projects supported by JDIG must, by law, result in positive net tax revenue to the state treasury, even after taking into consideration the grant’s reimbursement payments to a recipient company.
The provision ensures all North Carolina communities benefit from the JDIG program. Nestle Purina’s Rockingham County operations are projected to generate $61.23 million in state tax revenue over the life of the grant. ■