For the second time in less than eight months, a global bio-manufacturing company has chosen Johnston County for a significant expansion. On Monday, the Johnston County Board of Commissioners approved a 10-year incentive package that paves the way for Grifols Therapeutics Inc. to launch a $210 million expansion at its facility near Clayton. The Spain-based leader in plasma-derived medicine, already the county’s largest private employer, will create 250 new jobs in Johnston County with the expansion.
“Our county is proud to take its partnership with this leading biotech company to an exciting new level,” said Tony Braswell, chairman of Johnston County’s Board of Commissioners, who presided over today’s unanimous vote. As Grifols meets its projection on capital investments and job creation, the county will grant up to $1,277,640 annually to the company for 10 years. “Economic development, when it takes place at this level, is all about partnerships, and it is crucial that the county be a good partner. That means being prepared to share part of the risks as well as the rewards that will grow from this.”
The expansion by Grifols will consist of two new plants. One will be a fractionation facility of approximately 100,000 square foot with an annual output of six million liters. The second will be a 120,000-sq,-ft purification facility for the production of intravenous immunoglobulin. Both will be built on the company’s existing 240-acre campus near Clayton.
For its part, Johnston County will enjoy a $154 million boost to its annual GDP once the new facilities are fully operational. The 250 new jobs at Grifols will average $60,000 in annual salary, well above the county average. Construction of the two plants alone will create 830 full-and part-time jobs in the county, according to an economic impact assessment by North Carolina State University.
Founded Barcelona in 1940, Grifols is a global leader in the fields of transfusion, blood banking, protein therapeutics and laboratory analysis. The publicly traded company (Madrid Stock Exchange: GRF and Nasdaq: GRFS) has a worldwide workforce of 14,000. Its sales in 2014 reached nearly $4.5 billion.
“Grifols is one of the leading global companies in the manufacture of plasma based medicines with a direct presence in 30 countries and sales in over 100 countries,” said Sergi Roura, president of Grifols Therapeutics. “The decision to invest in the new facilities at Clayton is a result of expected growth in demand for our products, the significant presence that Grifols already has in North Carolina, and the favorable business environment we find in Johnston County.”
Grifols selected Clayton over a competing site in Texas. The company’s presence in Johnston County grew from its 2010 acquisition of Talecris. It has since invested heavily here, doubling the size of its plasma production facility and growing its workforce to approximately 1,650. Grifols’ latest expansion comes just one week after officials with Novo Nordisk broke ground on $1.8 billion bio-manufacturing plant that will produce the active ingredient for the Denmark-based company’s insulin products. State, local and company leaders announced those plans last August.
“Johnston County has emerged as a major destination for bio-manufacturing job and investment,” said Chris Johnson, director of the Johnston County Office of Economic Development. “The growing presence of companies like Grifols and Novo Nordisk forms a solid foundation for the county’s manufacturing economy, which keeps our population growing, our small business community vibrant and our tax-base strong. Along with the economic advantages these global companies bring is a level of community engagement that reaches into our schools, civic groups and neighborhoods in very a positive way. This is a great day for Johnston County.”
