‘Families will prosper.’ Eli Lilly breaks ground in Concord on $1 billion medicine plant
Local and state officials on Tuesday hailed pharmaceutical giant Eli Lily’s second North Carolina facility as bolstering the economic fortunes of Concord and providing prosperity to Cabarrus County families.
During a brief ceremony at the Cabarrus Country Club, Gov. Roy Cooper said the facility — a $1 billion investment from Eli Lilly to produce medicines treating diabetes, obesity and Alzheimer’s — will inject $5.7 billion into North Carolina’s economy over the next 12 years.
“The economic success that we’re seeing is not only a reflection of our great state and its people, but the Concord (and) Cabarrus County community,” Cooper said. “One thing that we’ve got to be committed to do is providing them with a strong, smart, dedicated, diverse, healthy workforce.”
Eli Lilly CEO David Ricks said the plant, located at 1420 Concord Parkway South, is expected to provide 600 new jobs. Hiring for the positions will take place over the next two-and-a-half years, with construction set to begin in spring 2023. Production of medicines is expected to start in 2024.
Ricks said the success of Eli Lilly’s first plant in the state, established in Research Triangle Park, motivated the company to look back to North Carolina for the new facility after its announcement in January. The Raleigh-area plant brought 460 jobs to its locale and will begin producing medicines in 2023.
“We started a project four years ago up the road in Raleigh, and that’s actually been easier than we thought to staff through (partnerships with universities and community colleges),” Ricks said. “Since we’ve done so well in Raleigh getting that site set up and staffed with workers, this seemed like a natural choice.”
Some labor markets across the state have more job openings than people seeking work, including the area around Eli Lilly’s Raliegh facility. Ricks said the company hopes to replicate the Raleigh plant’s staffing success through establishing partnerships with nearby community colleges and expanding university ones with UNC Charlotte and North Carolina A&T in Greensboro.
Rowan-Cabarrus Community College President Carol Spalding said her institution is prepared to meet the workforce needs presented by the new facility.
“Rowan-Cabarrus Community College has a longstanding reputation of preparing students for high-tech, high-wage careers, and the College is devoted to keeping up with the critical demands and needs of the county’s workforce development,” Spalding wrote in an email. “We have been committed to preparing the workforce of the future and with Eli Lilly, the future is here.”
North Carolina’s university system, Cooper said, will continue to draw high-profile employers to establish more presence in the state.
“I think we have the greatest workforce in the world and some of the best educational institutions. Our array of public and private universities, along with our community colleges, are the best in the country,” Cooper said. “Often (for) companies that are located all over the country, and sometimes all over the world, North Carolina is a place that their employees want to be. We know that through the level of interest that we’ve got from company after company wanting to come here to create good paying jobs.”
Cabarrus County Commissioner Steve Morris touted quality of life benefits associated with the facility said he hopes local educators can help provide material relevant to Eli Lilly’s pharmaceutical mission and keep locals interested in working near to home.
“Our high school and community college educators will develop courses to support this expansion of our biotech industry. There, students will learn cutting-edge skills for jobs that will keep them close to home,” Morris said. “Residents will benefit from added tax revenue, which helps pay for the services that keep us safe and improve our quality of life. Families will prosper because of the new jobs and the higher wages.”
Concord Mayor Bill Dusch said the plant will have a transformational effect on the entire community’s future.
“This is the most amazing time for us to officially establish Concord as a destination for discovery, research and innovation,” Dusch said.
The Eli Lilly plant is one of several manufacturing facilities drawn in the last year to The Grounds at Concord, which was established on the location of the former Phillip Morris cigarette manufacturing plant.
In August 2021, another $1 billion investment was announced by packaging company Ball Corp. to join Red Bull and Rauche North America at The Grounds site. Red Bull and Rauche announced their move in July 2021, a $740 million move to the manufacturing hub.
This story was originally published June 14, 2022 at 4:15 PM.
