European wood products company to bring 100s of jobs to Davidson County

EGGER Wood Products, an Austrian wood-based materials supplier, has chosen Davidson County as the location for its first U.S. manufacturing facility and expects to create 400 jobs there over the next six years.

If the company meets its job creation and investment targets, it will receive a $5.3 million Job Development Investment Grant from the state over 12 years, according to Gov. Roy Cooper’s office.

EGGER supplies materials for the furniture, wood construction and flooring industries. The facility will be a state-of-the-art particle board manufacturing plant that will purchase wood byproducts from regional sawmills, according to the Davidson County Economic Development Commission.

“Having our own production facility in North America is vital for EGGER to tap into the market and become a significant player for the growing demand in the U.S. for wood-based materials,” EGGER Chief Technology Officer Walter Schiegl said in a statement. “With the Davidson County production site, we will be able to enhance our customer relationships, ensuring product availability and speed of delivery.”

EGGER will invest $700 million in more than 4.5 million square feet of space based in the I-85 Corporate Center in Davidson County.

“This is the culmination of a long journey to develop the I-85 Corporate Center and the beginning of the investment and job creation vision we followed during the Park’s creation,” Tommy Hedrick, chairman of the Davidson County Economic Development Commission, said in a statement.

“Furniture manufacturing is part of North Carolina’s legacy, and our top-flight workforce gives EGGER an edge as they enter the U.S. marketplace,” Cooper said in a news release.

This story was originally published July 24, 2017 at 4:47 PM with the headline "European wood products company to bring 100s of jobs to Davidson County."