Castle Branch officials announced Friday afternoon that the firm would maintain and grow its headquarters in Wilmington.

The company will create 420 jobs by the end of 2017 and invest $10.2 million, officials said at the announcement, which included state commerce officials, local elected leaders and economic development representatives and was held at Castle Branch’s office on Sir Tyler Drive.

Castle Branch currently employs about 250 people at its 32,000-square-foot, Mayfaire area office.

In August, company CEO Brett Martin announced that Castle Branch intended to build a new headquarters if it could secure state and local incentives to aid in the expansion. He said at the time that two locations were under consideration: Wilmington and the San Francisco area.

Martin said Friday that the new building in Wilmington would be 60,000 square feet and added onto the existing office.

He said he hoped the new headquarters would be ready to open in 14 months, adding that the company was out of space in its existing office.

“Our business is people, and we think that’s our greatest asset in Wilmington,” he said.

Martin said his firm ultimately decided to stay put in Wilmington because of area’s workforce, relationship with the University of North Carolina Wilmington and the combination of incentives offered by state, city and county officials.

In a news release from Wilmington Business Development, Martin also credited the group with helping the firm navigate “the city, county and state political landscape.”

Wilmington and New Hanover County officials recently approved to jointly offer up to $500,000 in a five-year incentive package to the company.

The county’s financial commitment is expected to come from its economic development fund. County officials previously said that no incentives payment would be made until the company occupied its new building.

The city used to have an economic development fund, but it went away as part of budget cuts, city spokeswoman Malissa Talbert said.

“If we were to give Castle Branch a grant, the first payment would be at least one year out,” she said. “Although there is no economic development fund per se, we would consider it as we develop the budget for next year, perhaps reinstating the fund for the next fiscal year.”

The state commerce department’s Job Development and Investment Grant also will provide financial assistance, and the N.C. Community College System will provide customized worker training for the expansion, according to the Wilmington Business Development’s release.

That state grant will be $1.2 million, paid out over eight years and tied to job creation, commerce officials said Friday.

“When you work together this is what you can accomplish,” said Woody White, chairman of the New Hanover County Board of Commissioners, referring to the city and county’s joint agreement. “We have to find ways to work together so we can send a message across the state and the country that Wilmington is a place to do business.”

Since moving to Wilmington in 2002 with 32 employees, Castle Branch experienced steady growth. The firm recently opened a satellite office in Petaluma, Calif. where it employees 15 people. It also said last year it would hire 50 additional people in the Wilmington office.

“We’ve been waiting for a long time for this to happen,” Wilmington mayor Bill Saffo said about the expansion decision. “We need to keep this company in our community. Hopefully, we will have a third building in the future.”

Business Journal reporter Jenny Callison contributed to this report.