Syngenta held a groundbreaking for its new North American Crop Protection headquarters at its current location on Swing Road in Greensboro on Wednesday, March 9.
The 70-acre Swing Road campus with 17 structures was established in the mid-1960s and later acquired by Ciba-Geigy, which became Syngenta.
The groundbreaking was for a 100,000-square-foot office building to connect with the existing laboratory facility on the site. The $68 million project also includes complete renovation of all laboratories.
The redeveloped headquarters will include contemporary work and conference spaces; a health, wellness and fitness center; a cafeteria; an auditorium; coffee areas and other amenities.
In January 2020, the Greensboro City Council approved an economic incentive of $1.7 million to keep Syngenta in Greensboro, noting that the average wage of the 650 Syngenta employees on the site was $107,000 a year. The Guilford County Board of Commissioners approved an economic incentive of up to $2 million and the North Carolina Department of Commerce also offered Syngenta an economic incentive to stay in Greensboro.
Because of delays largely caused by the pandemic, it wasn’t until March 2021 that Syngenta announced its decision to stay in Greensboro.
At the groundbreaking event Mayor Nancy Vaughan said, “For as long as I can remember, the Syngenta facility – once Ciba-Geigy – has stood at one of the main entrances to Greensboro, an important reminder of our community’s agricultural science and technology abilities. We are thrilled that Syngenta has decided to build its new state-of-the-art office and research facility here – and that local employers are playing such an important role in its development.”
Vern Hawkins, president of Syngenta Crop Protection said, “The Syngenta family has been part of the fabric of this community for many decades, and it’s our goal to remain in Greensboro for many years to come. Our new headquarters will enable Greensboro-based colleagues to work together in modern, efficient facilities, enabling better collaboration and focus to meet our customers’ needs.”
That’s great. A win-win for the city and for Syngenta. My question is, what about economic incentives for ALL the businesses in Greensboro; and all businesses to be? The obvious and simple solution is to LOWER THAT PROPERTY TAX RATE for everyone. Businesses of all kinds would thrive, there will be many more jobs, and more tax collected.
Another great win for this city that all right wingers what you to believe is broken because it has a democratic leadership council.
The agricultural company Syngenta is wholly owned by the Chinese government and controlled by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Syngenta is, simply put, an extension of the Chinese government, acting commercially and politically in the United States to advance the strategic interests of China and the CCP, including in agricultural production technologies.
U.S. companies are not similarly able to operate in China’s agricultural sector. It is unfortunate that the Greensboro city council is providing a subsidy to the Chinese government to help them acquire U.S. ag technologies by tapping into our universities, markets, and pool of talent.
And does the Chinese government really need a tax break from the good citizens of Greensboro? The United States has an over $100 billion trade deficit with China LAST MONTH. It would be good for the council to explain this part of their ‘Syngenta math’ to residents.