Corvid Technologies LLC, which provides physics-based engineering solutions for the defense, automotive, aircraft, and biomedical industries, will locate its headquarters in Iredell County, creating 367 new jobs, Governor Roy Cooper announced today. The company will invest $28.9 million in Mooresville.
“North Carolina is the perfect choice for Corvid, thanks to our world-class universities, major military installations, and highly skilled workers,” Gov. Cooper said. “I’m pleased Corvid decided to keep growing right here by bringing more good-paying engineering jobs and its headquarters to Mooresville.”
Corvid provides technology-based solutions to a variety of customers in the Department of Defense, including the Missile Defense Agency, Navy, Army, Air Force, Marines, and Special Operations Command. In addition, Corvid supports ongoing projects and customers varying from motorsports to U.S. Olympic teams to the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. Corvid currently has 145 engineers and scientists with 75 percent holding advanced degrees across a variety of STEM fields. Corvid employs staff at offices across the U.S., including its current office in Mooresville.
“We’re excited to consolidate our headquarters in North Carolina and continue our rapid expansion in the area,” said Dr. David Robinson, CEO at Corvid. “The business-friendly climate at the local, county, and state level combined with access to premier engineering talent coming out of the nearby university systems were all major factors in our decision to locate the company headquarters in the area.”
The Mooresville location will be Corvid’s main campus and headquarters. The project will include two, three-story buildings, a data center for high-performance computing, a mechanics lab, and a prototyping lab. Corvid will recruit best-in-class engineers and scientists from top universities, including North Carolina State University, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Duke University, Wake Forest University, Virginia Tech, Georgia Tech, and Clemson University.
“It’s no coincidence that Corvid chose North Carolina, home to some of the nation’s largest military bases and leaders in aerospace and automotive industries,” said North Carolina Commerce Secretary Anthony M. Copeland. “Our state has the talent and business climate Corvid needs to succeed.”
Salaries for the new positions will vary. Once all positions are filled, the annual payroll impact will be approximately $40.5 million. The current Iredell County average wage is $47,842.
The North Carolina Department of Commerce and the Economic Development Partnership of N.C. (EDPNC) led the state’s support for the company’s expansion.
Corvid’s location in Iredell County will be facilitated in part by a Job Development Investment Grant (JDIG) approved by the state’s Economic Investment Committee earlier today. Over the course of the 12-year term of this grant, the project will grow the state’s economy by an estimated $764 million. 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 $9,000,750, 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.
Because Corvid chose to locate in Iredell County, classified by the state’s economic tier system as Tier 3, the company’s JDIG agreement also calls for moving as much as $3,000,250 into the state’s Industrial Development Fund – Utility Account. The Utility Account helps rural communities finance necessary infrastructure upgrades to attract future business. When new jobs are created in a Tier 3 county such as Iredell, the new tax revenue generated through JDIG grants helps more economically challenged communities anywhere in the state. More information on the state’s economic tier designations is available here.
“I am proud to welcome Corvid’s expansion in Mooresville,” said N.C. Senator David L. Curtis. “Corvid already employs talented professionals in Iredell County, and their choice to expand here is a vote of confidence in our area’s talent, business climate and quality of life.”
“Corvid will recruit talent from top universities within our state and across the country to live and work in Iredell County,” said N.C. Representative John A. Fraley. “I am proud to welcome their expansion here in Mooresville.”
Partnering with N.C. Commerce and the EDPNC on this project were the North Carolina General Assembly, the North Carolina Community College System, the North Carolina Department of Transportation, Iredell County, City of Mooresville, the Mooresville South Iredell Economic Development Corporation and Duke Energy.