Gov. Bev Perdue today joined executives from Time Warner Cable, Inc., the second largest cable operator in the U.S., in Charlotte to announce that the company will expand its operations and build a national data center on its Charlotte campus.
The company plans to create 225 jobs over the next three years with a $101 million capital investment in Charlotte. The project was made possible in part by a state grant from the Job Development Investment Grant program.
“Time Warner Cable looked around the country, and they chose North Carolina,” Gov. Perdue said. “Time Warner Cable is a devoted corporate citizen in Charlotte and North Carolina, and company leaders continue to bring jobs to our state because they realize that the investments we make in education produce the skilled, creative and capable employees they need.”
TWC serves more than 14 million customers mainly in North Carolina, South Carolina, New York, Ohio, southern California and Texas. TWC owns 33 acres of land at the Charlotte Corporate Campus located on Crescent Executive Drive. The grant will result in construction of two additional buildings, an office building with more than 100,000 square feet of office space, and a national data center. This project will also see the expansion of the current parking deck. TWC currently employs more than 5,000 people in North Carolina.
While individual wages for the 225 jobs will vary by job function, the overall average for the new jobs will be $61,044 a year, not including benefits. The Mecklenburg County average annual wage is $51,584.
“Even in a recovering economy, Time Warner Cable continues to grow and is pleased to offer valuable, good paying jobs in Charlotte and Mecklenburg County,” said Carol Hevey, executive vice president, Time Warner Cable East. “Adding 225 positions is another example of our commitment to North Carolina and emphasizes what many of us already know--North Carolina is a great place to live and do business.”
“Time Warner Cable, like so many other companies, wants to invest its money and people in a state that is doing its own investing in the future,” said Sen. Charlie Dannelly, of Charlotte. “Companies like Time Warner Cable want to operate in a state that is committed to education, committed to producing an educated, skilled workforce, which is why we fought so hard against the education cuts in this year’s budget.”
“North Carolina continues to collect glowing reviews and top rankings for our business climate for the same reasons that Time Warner Cable is expanding its operations here,” said Rep. Martha Alexander. “We have put our money into the future, into our schools and universities, into our transportation system and into programs that cultivate innovative businesses. Hopefully companies will see that, despite the backward steps of this year’s budget, there are those of us in the legislature who remain committed to moving the state forward.”
To help facilitate this expansion, the state Economic Investment Committee today voted to award a Job Development Investment Grant to TWC. 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 TWC meets the targets called for under the agreement, the JDIG could yield $2.9 million in maximum benefits for the company.
Other partners that assisted with this project include: the N.C. Department of Commerce, N.C. Community Colleges, City of Charlotte 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 TWC, including job opportunities, visit www.timewarnercable.com.