Xerox Corp. is bypassing Connecticut to open a technology center that will create 600 jobs in Cary, North Carolina, a suburb of Raleigh.
The Cary Center of Excellence will be the fourth such Xerox facility in North America, joining those in Palo Alto, California; Webster, New York; and Toronto, Canada.
“The opening of our fourth Center of Excellence is an essential investment in Xerox’s long-term future,” said Naresh Shanker, the Norwalk-based company”™s chief technology officer. “This is a new multifunctional center that will be focused on accelerating our digital journey.
“Being home to a host of tech companies and educational institutions, North Carolina was a logical choice for us,” Shanker added.
Xerox will invest $18.4 million in Wake County, where Cary is located, according to North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper.
“Xerox, which had many locations to choose from, selected North Carolina because they know we can offer the highly-skilled workers they need, both now and in the future,” Cooper said.
The North Carolina Department of Commerce and the Economic Development Partnership of N.C. (EDPNC) led the state”™s support for Xerox”™s move.
The company”™s project in North Carolina will be facilitated, in part, by a Job Development Investment Grant (JDIG) approved by the state”™s Economic Investment Committee. Over the course of the grant”™s 12-year term, the project is estimated to grow the state”™s economy by $1.7 billion.
Using a formula that takes into account the new tax revenues generated by the new jobs, the JDIG agreement authorizes the potential reimbursement to the company of up to $12,324,750, spread over 12 years. State payments only occur following performance verification by the departments of Commerce and Revenue that the company has met its incremental job creation and investment targets.
JDIG projects result in positive net tax revenue to the state treasury, even after taking into consideration the grant”™s reimbursement payments to a given company, according to Cooper.
Because Xerox chose to locate in Wake County, classified by the state”™s economic tier system as Tier 3, the company”™s JDIG agreement also calls for moving as much as $4,108,250 into the state”™s Industrial Development Fund ”“ Utility Account. The utility account helps rural communities finance necessary infrastructure upgrades to attract future business.
Even when new jobs are created in a Tier 3 county such as Wake, the new tax revenue generated through JDIG grants helps more economically challenged communities elsewhere in the state.
