CONCORD, N.C. (AP) — Beverage companies Red Bull and Rauch will work together to build a manufacturing, canning and distribution hub in Cabarrus County that will create over 400 jobs, Gov. Roy Cooper announced on Tuesday.
Cooper and other state and local officials held a news conference in Concord after a state government panel approved earlier Tuesday financial incentives of up to $4.1 million for the two companies combined over 12 years should they meet job-creation and investment thresholds.
Through subsidiaries, the two Austrian-based companies plan to create the production hub on the grounds of the now-closed Philip Morris cigarette manufacturing site in Concord, according to state officials.
The project — a Red Bull regional distribution center and a can-filling factory operated by Rauch and a joint Rauch-Red Bull entity — will mean an over $740 million investment in Concord by 2027, according to state documents and a Cooper news release.
Average salaries for the jobs will be almost $50,400, compared to a Cabarrus County average of about $41,250.
North Carolina was competing for the project with potential locales in South Carolina's Richland and Cherokee counties, according to documents presented to the panel that voted for the state incentives. Cabarrus County and Concord also offered local incentives.
