Dai Nippon Printing Co., a lithium-ion battery pouch manufacturer, plans to create 352 new jobs and invest $233 million to build its first U.S. advanced manufacturing plant in Davidson County, according to an announcement Tuesday.
The facility will be located in Linwood. The company says it plans to start operations in 2026.
The average annual salary for the new positions is $50,281, which exceeds the Davidson County average wage of $49,956. The project could create a potential annual payroll impact of more than $17.6 million per year for the region.
“My meeting with DNP in Tokyo last month was productive, and I’m grateful they are building their EV battery pouch manufacturing facility in North Carolina, which is yet another sign of our growing clean energy economy,” said Gov. Roy Cooper in a statement.
The announcement is the latest EV battery development for North Carolina. Colorado-based material science company Forge Nano announced plans earlier this month to launch a lithium-ion battery business in Morrisville with an investment of more than $165 million.
Toyota plans to invest $13.9 billion and hire 5,000 employees at its electric battery manufacturing site in Randolph County. And India-based Epsilon Advanced Materials plans to build an electronic vehicle battery materials plant just south of Wilmington and add 500 jobs.
DNP, founded in 1876, manufactures lithium-ion battery pouches for electric vehicles. The flexible plastic packaging material will encase and protect EV battery cells.
DNP’s project will be facilitated, in part, by a Job Development Investment Grant (JDIG) approved by the state’s Economic Investment Committee earlier Tuesday.
Over the course of the 12-year term of the grant, the project is estimated to grow the state’s economy by $691 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 $2,741,400 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.
Because DNP chose a site in Davidson County, classified by the state’s economic tier system as Tier 2, the company’s JDIG agreement also calls for moving $304,600 into the state’s Industrial Development Fund – Utility Account. The Utility Account helps rural communities across the state finance necessary infrastructure upgrades to attract future business.
“This is outstanding news for Davidson County and the entire state of North Carolina,” said N.C. Sen. Steve Jarvis in a statement. “This multimillion-dollar investment and new jobs will positively impact our region and we stand ready to support this next phase of growth for the company.”