Governor Pat McCrory, North Carolina Commerce Secretary John E. Skvarla, III and the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina (EDPNC) announced the arrival of Uniquetex, LLC, Inc. to Cleveland County. The company intends to build a 150-person workforce in the Town of Grover over the coming five years. Uniquetex is investing $31.6 million in a production facility there, its first in the United States.
“Textile manufacturing is one of North Carolina’s greatest traditional industries, and it is still growing,” said Governor McCrory. “Our state is the ideal destination for globally-positioned, innovation-driven textile companies like Uniquetex.”
Uniquetex, LLC manufactures nonwoven fabrics for use by medical and healthcare providers, as well as other industries. The company is a joint venture between Foshan Nanhai Beautiful Nonwoven Co., Ltd., one of China’s largest nonwoven textile businesses and Wenzhou Chaolong Textile Machinery Co., Ltd., a Zhejiang, China-based developer of equipment and technologies for nonwoven textile manufacturing.
“Uniquetex’s selection of Cleveland County highlights all the reasons North Carolina leads the Southeast in manufacturing employment,” said Secretary Skvarla. “I am confident that our state’s productive workforce, competitive costs and ready access to global markets will strongly support the company’s ambitious growth strategy.”
Uniquetex intends to hire 150 workers at its Cleveland County operations. Positions will include machine operators, technicians, customer service representatives and others. Salaries will vary by position but will average $36,313 per year. Cleveland County’s overall average wage is currently $35,885 per year.
“We are extremely excited to start up our first U.S. operations in Cleveland County, N.C. The combination of a skilled workforce, access for quality transportation infrastructure and the pro-business attitude of the community is what attracted us here,” said Benny Deng, company CEO/President.
The project was made possible in part by a performance-based grant of up to $800,000 from the One North Carolina Fund. The One NC Fund provides financial assistance, through local governments, to attract business projects that will stimulate economic activity and create new jobs in the state. Companies receive no money up front and must meet job creation and investment performance standards to qualify for grant funds. One NC grants also require and are contingent on financial matches from local governments.
Since Governor McCrory took office in January of 2013, North Carolina has witnessed the net creation of more than 260,000 private-sector jobs.
“Congratulations to this promising international company on its choice of Cleveland County for this important investment,” said N.C. Speaker of the House Tim Moore. “I look forward to working with with Governor McCrory and Secretary Skvarla to ensure our state has the tools to make our manufacturing economy even stronger.”
“Cleveland County is a welcoming environment for great companies from all over the world,” said N.C. Senator Warren Daniel. “We look forward to Uniquetex joining our business community.”
Numerous state and local allies worked with EDPNC and N.C. Commerce in supporting Uniquetex’s location plans. They include the North Carolina General Assembly, the North Carolina Community College System, Cleveland County, the Cleveland County Economic Development Partnership, and Gardner Webb University.