GE Hitachi hired about 200 new employees in 2023 to support the company’s growth, according to Jon Allen, Hitachi’s nuclear communications leader. 

GE Hitachi was one of several companies that have received offers of economic development incentives in recent years. In 2022 alone, the companies granted state and local incentives totaling more than $2.9 million aimed to create close to 1,200 new jobs in the Cape Fear region over time. The incentives depend on whether the companies fulfill their hiring goals and other metrics.

Topping the list regarding job creation, GE Hitachi pledged in 2022 to hire 485 employees over five years at its Castle Hayne campus. The jobs are set to have an average salary of $131,000. 

New Hanover County provided the nuclear energy company $1.25 million in performance-based incentives, while the city of Wilmington contributed another $250,000. Officials have said the jobs will support future advanced nuclear growth. The company also broke ground in October 2022 on a $200 million fuel facility, around the same time the new jobs were announced. 

The company is working toward its hiring goals with those hired in 2023, Allen wrote in an email to the Greater Wilmington Business Journal. 

In another major 2022 economic development announcement, Live Oak Bank leaders said they planned to hire 204 employees over five years as part of a $25 million expansion at the company’s midtown Wilmington campus. 

The company could receive more than $1.5 million from the N.C. Job Development Investment Grant (JDIG) and $500,000 in performance-based grants from local government leaders. That includes $300,000 from New Hanover County and $200,000 from the city of Wilmington to support the firm’s expansion and hiring. 

Live Oak Bank is currently on track to meet its hiring and investment goals, according to Claire Parker, the company’s senior vice president of corporate communications. The company will submit its official hiring and investment reports to state officials in the spring of 2024. Live Oak Bank expects to open its fourth campus office building around the same time, Parker stated in an email to the Business Journal. 

In this latest cycle, positions hired by Live Oak Bank include analysts, data scientists, loan servicing specialists, network engineers, paralegals and underwriters. 

In early 2022, logistics firm MegaCorp Logistics announced plans to hire 300 new positions in five years with the help of economic incentives from local government leaders. The city of Wilmington agreed to pay the company up to $200,000, and New Hanover County committed up to $300,000 in the performance-based incentive package totaling $500,000. 

At the time of the announcement, officials said compensation for the new roles would average nearly $63,000, ranging from sales professionals and operations personnel to support staff. The firm is currently on track to meet its incentive-based hiring goals, according to Katie Braskett, the company’s director of marketing. 

MegaCorp currently employs 447 people in the Wilmington area, Braskett wrote in an email to the Business Journal. In 2022, the Business Journal reported the company employed 375 people in Wilmington. 

While the company is currently hiring for various roles, its most hired positions include account managers and operations specialists, according to Braskett. As the firm’s sales team grows, MegaCorp is also expanding other departments to keep up, including its IT, accounting, recruiting, human resources and training teams. 

Also in 2022, manufacturing firm Precision Swiss Products could receive more than $2 million from local and state officials to bring its East Coast headquarters to Brunswick County and create 125 jobs in five years. Brunswick County offered the firm $270,000, and the state will throw in $1.8 million if the company meets its job goals. 

Technology company Vantaca announced in the fall of 2021 its plans to add 104 jobs over five years, which would more than double its 100-person workforce at the time. The cloud-based, software-as-a-service firm works with association management companies. New Hanover County and the city of Wilmington promised to give the company a total of $200,000 if the firm met its hiring goals. The company could also receive up to $1.4 million in JDIG money over 12 years if it meets its hiring goals.

In 2022, Port City Logistics announced its plans to build a $16 million warehouse and hire 75 employees with an average salary of $64,000. The company could receive $224,500 from the state and $112,500 from the New Hanover County and Wilmington leaders. 

Officials with Precision Swiss, Vantaca and Port City Logistics did not respond before press time to a Business Journal request for a hiring update. 

Although just a handful of Wilmington-area companies received promises of economic incentives in 2023 from local and state officials, it remained a big year for new job announcements and local investments, especially in Brunswick County. 

That’s because of a single economic announcement from Epsilon Advanced Materials, which manufactures materials for electric vehicle batteries. This fall, the company announced plans to build its first facility outside India in Brunswick County. According to company officials, the $650 million, 1.5 million-square-foot facility is expected to employ 500 people. 

The average salary for the new positions will be more than $52,000. Brunswick County’s current average salary is around $46,000, according to state officials. The company selected Brunswick County after considering multiple locations across the U.S. and spending a year in talks with North Carolina and Brunswick County economic development officials. 

Epsilon could receive more than $3.4 million in economic incentives over 12 years if the company meets its job and investment targets. Those incentives will come through the JDIG program. 

This summer, Brunswick County leaders gave a smaller economic development grant to Industrial Reliability and Repair (IRR). The Ohio-based industrial construction firm could receive $250,000 in economic development incentives to locate in the Leland Innovation Park. 

To receive the incentives, IRR must create at least 160 new jobs with an average pay of at least $46,500. Company officials have estimated average annual wages of around $71,000 for the positions.