ONSLOW COUNTY – Nearly 100 new jobs are expected to come to Onslow County as UPS will build a $12.3 million distribution center in the Town of Holly Ridge.

The global logistics firm is expanding in eastern North Carolina with a commitment to add at least 98 new jobs that pay  as much as $95,000 annually, with average wages of more than $67, 600.

This is the single largest economic development project announced in Onslow County during the prior 40 years, a statement from the North Carolina Department of Commerce noted.

“The decision by UPS to expand in eastern North Carolina is a tribute to our growth and our dedicated workforce which includes many veterans in this area,” said North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper in a statement. “As the third-fastest growing state in the nation, global logistics leaders like UPS are eager to build in military communities like Holly Ridge that have the right people and the transportation infrastructure to reach their customers.”

According to the announcement, UPS will build a distribution center in the Camp Davis Industrial Park.  By doing so, the company expects “to support a higher volume of package deliveries throughout eastern North Carolina,” it noted in a statement.

“The investment in Holly Ridge and surrounding communities allows us to meet current volume demands while positioning us for the future,” said said Mark Smith, vice president of North Carolina.

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Among the positions that the company expects to hire from the local workforce are drivers, operations personnel, managers, and support staff.

To facilitate the deal, a performance-based grant of $250,000 from the One North Carolina Fund will be awarded to UPS.

Earlier this week, North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper announced another economic development project that would add jobs to North Carolina’s economy in Fletcher, North Carolina.  That announcement, from French manufacturing company Tageos, will add 64 jobs in Western North Carolina.

To date in 2023, there have been 1,321 new job announcements across the state, according to the North Carolina Department of Commerce website.  And Chris Chung, the CEO of the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina, told WRAL TechWire earlier this year that he expects that the state will continue to attract economic development projects in 2023 following record years in 2021 and 2022.

NC’s past economic development failures are behind the state, and more wins are coming in 2023