There have been a lot of exciting and positive economic development announcements out of High Point in recent years, and, on Tuesday. Jan. 7, there was another one to add to the list.
At a press conference in the High Point Municipal Building, NC Commerce Chief Deputy Secretary Liz Crabill – speaking on behalf of NC Governor Roy Cooper and Commerce Secretary Tony Copeland – revealed that LLFlex will open in High Point.
LLFlex CEO Victor Dixon, High Point Mayor Jay Wagner and High Point Economic Development President Corp. Loren Hill were just a few of the happy campers who were also at the big announcement.
LLFlex, which makes packaging materials and industrial laminate, plans to open a new building in the Gallimore Industrial Center at 738 Gallimore Dairy Road in High Point, add 46 new jobs to the local economy and invest $7.6 million in the facility.
The 90-year-old company, which is headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, makes packaging and other products largely for the construction, wire and cable, and tobacco industries. Probably most people in the area have interacted with the company’s products without knowing it. Its work can be found in a variety of everyday items like insulation, lining, foil – and in the paperboard laminates for those NC Education Lottery scratch-off tickets that never quite seem to pay off big. LLFlex is also North America’s leading supplier of cigarette inner bundling material as well as custom-printed lamination for tobacco products.
The jobs that will be created include production jobs, maintenance staff, team leaders and managers. The average wage for all new positions is estimated to be $58,000. That compares with a current average annual salary in Guilford County of $47,955.
In November, the High Point City Council authorized $45,000 in performance-based incentives for the company, to be paid out in installments. The State of North Carolina also participated in luring LLFLex to High Point. It offered a performance-based grant of $90,000 from the One North Carolina Fund – a fund that provides financial assistance to local governments to help attract new companies to the state and to create jobs. Companies receive no money upfront from the fund and have to meet job creation and capital investment targets in order to qualify for payment. All One North Carolina Fund grants require a matching grant from local governments and any award is contingent upon that condition being met.
While the governor didn’t attend the ceremony, he did release a statement: “Another manufacturing jobs announcement for High Point is good news for the Triad,” Cooper stated. “Companies like LLFlex will continue to expand in our state because we prioritize our workforce and the skills needed to keep business on track.
In addition to NC Commerce and the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina, other key partners in the project included the NC General Assembly, NC Community College System, the City of High Point, the High Point Economic Development Corp., the Guilford County Economic Development Alliance and the Greensboro Chamber of Commerce.
