A Japanese medical device company announced plans Wednesday to spend nearly $400 million and create more than 230 jobs to build a manufacturing facility in Greenville.
Nipro Medical is based in Osaka and is publicly traded. Founded in 1954, it makes everything from needles to catheters to blood tubing sets and has more than 30,000 employees around the world.
The facility in Pitt County marks Nipro’s first venture into producing medical devices in the U.S. market. The plant is set to produce medical devices for patients with diabetes, chronic kidney disease and other renal health issues.
The 550,000-square-foot campus will include a medical training center for healthcare providers as well as a customer service center.
“Our close proximity to customers will allow us to better respond to their needs and provide them with timely and effective solutions,” said Tsuyoshi Yamazaki, senior managing director of global business at Nipro, in a statement. “Our new facility in Greenville is a major milestone in our sustainability journey, reflecting our commitment to reducing our carbon footprint.”
New positions will range from engineers and production workers to administrative and management roles. Although wages will vary depending on the position, the average salary for the new positions will be $56,147, which exceeds the current average wage in Pitt County of $50,937.
These new jobs could create a potential payroll impact of more than $13 million for the region each year.
Nipro’s project in North Carolina will be facilitated, in part, by a Job Development Investment Grant approved by the state’s Economic Investment Committee earlier Wednesday.
Over the course of the 12-year term of this grant, the project is estimated to grow the state’s economy by $797 million. Using a formula that takes into account the new tax revenues generated by the new jobs and the capital investment, the grant agreement authorizes the potential reimbursement to the company of up to $2,484,000, 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.
The project’s projected return on investment of public dollars is 160%, meaning for every dollar of potential cost, the state receives $2.60 in state revenue.
North Carolina has focused on recruiting Japanese business, and Japan now ranks as the No. 1 source of foreign direct investment to the state. In April, Gov. Roy Cooper welcomed Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on an official state visit to North Carolina to deepen our economic ties.
Cooper led a state delegation to Tokyo in October 2023 for the annual Southeastern United States/Japan Economic Development Conference, and Charlotte will host the same summit this October.
Nipro Medical opened a U.S. office in Miami in 1996 and a North America sales operation in Bridgewater, New Jersey, in 2014. In 2020, it acquired H&S Technical Services, a biomedical service and repair company based in Mesa, Arizona.
