Solstas Lab Partners decided after a 21-month search that there was no place like home for its largest infrastructure expansion.
The medical and diagnostic laboratories company confirmed Wednesday that it had chosen High Point, where it has one of two headquarters offices, for an $11.6 million expansion that will add 500 jobs over five years.
The company already has 721 full-time and 140 part-time employees in High Point.
The company is eligible for up to $1 million in local performance-based incentives and $450,000 from the One North Carolina Fund. The state grant is based on creating 300 jobs and spending $7.5 million over three years.
David Weavil, Solstas' chief executive, repeated what other company management had said during the local incentive process: The company had favored expanding in High Point over company sites in Roanoke, Va. — where its other headquarters office is based — and Knoxville, Tenn.
"We said we would be fair and do a proper due diligence for all three sites," Weavil said. "Another state was willing to do much more for us with incentives.
"Local and N.C. officials were cooperative and supportive of our incentive requests, which supplemented our belief that High Point could support our internal growth and the growth that comes from future acquisitions."
Loren Hill, president of the High Point Economic Development Corp., said the Solstas expansion is the city's largest job-creation project in 13 years.
"All job announcements are good for a community, but having 500 jobs announced at one time is a big plus for High Point and the Triad," Hill said.
"We have an ever-growing health care/life-sciences cluster, and Solstas is already a major player in that field. Their expansion here is important to show other companies in the field how they, too, could thrive here."
The average annual wage for the jobs created in the next three years will be $49,023. By comparison, the Guilford County average annual wage is $39,520.
Among the job categories are medical technicians, pathologists, lab technicians, information technology and administrative. Some of those jobs are expected to come from the workforce of companies Solstas projects to buy over the next five years.
Solstas was formed in 2010 through the merger of Spectrum Laboratory Network and Carillion Labs of Roanoke, Va.
Novant Health Inc., Moses Cone Hospitals and High Point Regional Hospital have been among the investors in Spectrum.
Hill said the company likely would hold a job fair in central High Point in conjunction with his office as well as the Guilford Workforce Development Board and the local office of the N.C. Division of Employment Security.
Weavil said he expects the biggest hiring challenge will be for IT jobs, although he is hopeful the local universities will produce the talent Solstas needs.
"It's just not easy to find really good, young IT people in any industry," Weavil said.
Gov. Bev Perdue said it was important for local and state officials to persuade Solstas to keep its main operations in High Point.
"This is a homegrown company who has made money here and its bottom line is rooted here," Perdue said. "The quality and capacity of its workforce here is solid and will only get better."
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