The Crump Group Inc., a Canadian manufacturer of all natural, limited ingredient pet treats will locate its first production facility in the United States in Nash County, creating 160 jobs, Governor Roy Cooper announced today. The company will invest $13.2 million to outfit a new manufacturing and distribution center in Nashville.
“Eastern North Carolina is perfect for this Canadian company’s first manufacturing facility in the United States,” said Governor Cooper. “We have great workers, an excellent transportation network, the best sweet potatoes in the world along with other raw materials, and we love our pets.”
The Crump Group, a family run business headquartered in Ontario, produces a wide variety of limited ingredient pet treats utilizing best in class processing and food safety standards. Products are sold in pet specialty, grocery, and mass supermarkets under a variety of brands and the strong demand for these minimally processed treats has enabled the company to become one the largest producer of air-dried pet treats in Canada. North Carolina sweet potatoes have been a key ingredient in several of the company’s products for many years. The new facility in Nash County offers streamlined access to this important raw material and provides The Crump Group with a strategic east-coast location to grow its business in the United States.
“We’re thrilled with the opportunity to make North Carolina our home in the USA”, said Margot Crump, CEO of The Crump Group. “Knowing that “Made in the USA” resonates with American consumers provided a great deal of incentive to continue our growth trajectory with this expansion. When considering options as to where to locate, it was an easy decision thanks to the state’s proactive approach in attracting new business.”
“It’s exciting to see an international company select rural eastern North Carolina for a major expansion of their business,” said North Carolina Commerce Secretary Machelle Baker Sanders. “Our top-quality sweet potatoes have been a part of this company’s success for a while, and now our skilled workforce and strategic location will help The Crump Group see even more success as they grow their business in the United States.”
While salaries will vary based on position, the average wage for all the new jobs will be $42,016, which is above the Nash County average of $41,827. The total payroll impact for the region is expected to reach more than $6 million.
The Crump Group’s project in North Carolina will be facilitated 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 is estimated to grow the state’s economy by $650.5 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 $1,644,000, spread over 12 years. Over those 12 years, the state will see net direct revenue generated by the project in excess of $17.2 million.
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.
“Agricultural products like sweet potatoes have always been one of North Carolina’s great calling cards on the international stage,” said N.C. Senator Lisa Barnes. “This natural bounty helped attract The Crump Group to Nash County and we’re excited to see their business expand to North Carolina. It’s a ‘sweet’ project for the local agribusiness economy.”
“New jobs and investment are coming to Nash County from a company that could have selected many places to expand,” said N.C. Representative James Gailliard. “I’m proud that eastern North Carolina stood tall as the best place for this international company to grow their business.”
Partnering with N.C. Commerce and the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina on this project were the North Carolina General Assembly, the North Carolina Community College System, NCWorks, Nash Community College, Nash County, the Town of Nashville and the Nash County Department of Economic Development.
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