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Gov. Bev Perdue joined executives from Mitsubishi Nuclear Energy Systems, Inc. (MNES), in Charlotte recently to announce that MNES will locate its main engineering center in the Queen City. Mitsubishi, one of the world’s leading suppliers of nuclear power plants and replacement components, will use the new Charlotte engineering center to perform projects to build nuclear power plants for U.S. utility companies.
The company plans to create 135 jobs over the next five years with a $4.1 million capital investment in Charlotte. The project was made possible in part by a state grant from the Job Development Investment Grant program.
Gov. Perdue made today’s announcement from the campus of UNC Charlotte as part of her “Education Works” tour to highlight how North Carolina’s history of investing in education is drawing well-paying, high-tech industries into the state.
“Mitsubishi is a growing and future-oriented company, exactly the kind of business that North Carolina is attracting through our investment in education and infrastructure,” Gov. Perdue said. “Our job-ready workforce and position as an energy capital truly means that international companies like Mitsubishi will bring to our state the kind of jobs that are helping us climb out of the recession.”
MNES supplies safe and secure nuclear energy systems for utility customers by leveraging experienced engineering, manufacturing and technical support capabilities that Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. has strengthened over the years. MNES business operations include support for existing nuclear power plants through component replacement and inspection services and the promotion of new facilities through the introduction of the advanced pressurized water reactor (US-APWR). The professionals in this office will work with MNES partners, contractors and customers in the areas of project management, engineering, procurement and quality assurance.
While individual wages for the 135 jobs will vary by job function, the overall average for the new jobs will be $102,454 a year, not including benefits. The Mecklenburg County average annual wage is $51,584.
“Establishing our engineering center in North Carolina is a further expansion of our U.S. operations to meet the growing needs of U.S. utility companies for safe and efficient nuclear power plant technology,” said Kiyoshi Yamauchi, President and Chief Executive Officer of MNES. “The engineering work to be done there will help utilities meet global energy requirements with our US-APWR technology.”
To help facilitate this expansion, the state Economic Investment Committee today voted to award a Job Development Investment Grant to MNES. JDIGs are awarded only to new and expanding businesses and industrial projects whose benefits exceed the costs to the state and which would not be undertaken in North Carolina without the grant.
Under the terms of the JDIG, the company is eligible to receive a grant equal to 60 percent of the state personal income withholding taxes derived from the creation of new jobs for each of the nine years in which the company meets annual performance targets. If MNES meets the targets called for under the agreement, the JDIG could yield $2.8 million in maximum benefits for the company.
In addition, up to $961,000 could be added to the state’s Industrial Development Fund for infrastructure improvements in economically distressed counties. When a JDIG is awarded in the state’s more economically prosperous counties such as Mecklenburg, 25 percent of the grant award is allocated to the Industrial Development Fund to encourage economic development in less prosperous counties.
Other partners that assisted with this project include: the N.C. Department of Commerce and the Charlotte Chamber.
Through Gov. Perdue’s JobsNOW initiative, the state continues to work aggressively to create well-paying jobs, train and retrain its workforce, and lay the foundation for a strong and sustainable economic future.
For more information about MNES, including job opportunities, visit www.mnes-us.com.
