HOLLY SPRINGS, NC — Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies plans to add 680 high-paying jobs at its Holly Springs campus, executives said Thursday — part of a $1.2 billion expansion of what is expected to be one of the largest biomanufacturing facilities of its kind in North America.
The expansion — aided by more than $69 million in potential state and local economic incentives — will help the contract manufacturer produce more biologics, such as vaccines, as the market for antibody drugs grows. And it will bring the company’s total investment at the Holly Springs site to more than $3.2 billion, with employment expected to reach 1,400 by 2031, officials said. The project is expected to have an economic impact of $4.76 billion if the company meets its hiring goals.
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The decision to expand in Holly Springs underscores the region’s strength as a biotech powerhouse teeming with technical talent, executives and officials said Thursday. It is also one of the latest deals underscoring the state’s efforts to recruit Japanese companies – coming hours before Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida meets with Gov. Roy Cooper to discuss economic partnerships.
Fujifilm Diosynth, which is based in Denmark, is a subsidiary of Tokyo-based conglomerate Fujifilm. Cooper met with Fujifilm executives in October during a trip to Tokyo as part of a long-running effort to attract Japanese companies to the state. “Our ties to Japan are growing, and we want to celebrate the economic, academic and cultural ties,” Cooper said during a news conference at the North Carolina Museum of History.
Japan is North Carolina’s largest source of foreign investment, and Japanese companies focused on aerospace, biotech and clean energy have flocked to the state in recent years. In Guilford and Randolph counties, HondaJet and Toyota have invested in facilities expected to add billions of dollars to the state economy and employ thousands of North Carolinians.
State, local incentives
North Carolina Department of Commerce officials on Thursday approved a grant worth up to $15 million for Fujifilm’s latest expansion. The company earns the subsidy if it meets employment targets. Those dollars will be in addition to $54.3 million in incentives approved by Wake and Holly Springs counties, officials said Thursday. The jobs — including engineers, scientists and manufacturing staff — are expected to pay an average annual salary of about $110,000, well above the Wake County average of $74,866.
“This is a win for us in South Wake and a win for North Carolina as a whole,” said GOP Rep. Erin Pare, who represents part of Holly Springs. “This will be a huge boost to our economy.
Senate Majority Leader Phil Berger, R-Rockingham, added, “Today’s announcement is further evidence that our economic development philosophy of low taxes, quality educational opportunities and pro-business regulations is key to creating good-paying jobs.”
The incentives approved Thursday are in addition to a state grant of up to $20 million that trade officials approved in 2021 when Fujifilm Diosynth announced the $2 billion first phase of the Holly Spring project, which itself expects to provide 725 jobs.
Fujifilm Diosynth, which has been in the Triangle under different owners since at least 1996 and has locations around the world, is considering sites in Southern California, Denmark and Singapore for the latest expansion, sales officials said. The company said it chose North Carolina in part because of its access to infrastructure, sustainable energy resources and skilled talent.
Lars Petersen, CEO of Fujifilm Diosynth, praised the region’s strength as a biotech innovation hub, noting its distinction as one of the country’s largest biotech clusters. “North Carolina is a great location for life sciences and for Fujifilm’s disynthetic biotechnologies,” he said during Thursday’s news conference.
Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies is a contract development and manufacturing organization, meaning it makes products for other pharmaceutical companies such as Novavax. Companies partnered for 2020 Covid-19 vaccine
The first phase of the Holly Springs project — expected to be one of the largest full-scale biopharmaceutical manufacturing facilities on the continent — is expected to be completed in 2025. The facility will help the company manufacture, package and label drugs and other therapies in huge scale – especially cell cultures used in vaccines.
“It’s abundantly clear that North Carolina has become an advanced manufacturing powerhouse,” Gov. Roy Cooper said at the news conference, where he was joined by executives, state lawmakers and officials from Wake County and the city of Holly Springs.
Device manufacturer Biopharma Schott Pharma USA Inc. said this month it plans to create 401 jobs as part of a $371 million investment in Wilson County. And Japanese pharmaceutical company Kyowa Kirin said in February it would add 102 jobs at Sanford over the next four years. Both companies were helped by economic stimulus packages.
Visit of the Prime Minister
Kyowa Kirin was among several Japanese companies that chose North Carolina for operations after Cooper attended an economic development conference in Tokyo last year, where he tried to make his way among business leaders there.
That relationship is expected to be central to Kishida’s visit to North Carolina on Thursday and Friday. Kishida’s visit, believed to be the only such visit by a sitting head of state to North Carolina in decades, comes after a White House dinner with Democratic President Joe Biden that Kishida and Cooper attended on Wednesday. There was a similar theme of strengthening economic ties with Japan, a key American ally in East Asia, as Chinese influence continues to grow.
North Carolina is expected to be Kishida’s only other U.S. stop. During the visit to Washington, Biden and Kishida discussed the importance of investment between Japan and the United States, highlighting the investments of Japanese companies in North Carolina.
They also discussed continued cooperation in research and development and the creation of start-up environments that foster innovation, according to a summary of their discussion provided by Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In a joint statement Wednesday, the leaders touted Toyota’s $13.9 billion investment in North Carolina.
Japan is one of the largest trading partners of the United States and the largest source of foreign investment in North Carolina. At least 225 Japanese companies have major positions in the state, employing nearly 30,000 people, according to the governor’s office. That number is expected to grow by thousands more jobs in the coming years, Cooper’s office said in October.
After Cooper’s last trip to Tokyo in October, Toyota announced it would more than double the size of its massive electric vehicle battery factory in Randolph County. The factory, which is between Greensboro and Pittsboro, is expected to eventually employ more than 5,000 people, an investment expected to spur residual contractor and service growth in the area.
Fujihatsu & Toyotsu Battery Components, a partnership between Fujihatsu Tech America and Toyota Tsusho America, said in February that it will create 133 new jobs at a new electric vehicle battery manufacturing facility in Liberty. FTBC is investing $60 million in the project, which will support Toyota’s battery manufacturing unit.
The Cooper administration has also pushed for years to lease a HondaJet facility at Piedmont Triad International Airport. Greensboro is now the global headquarters of Honda Aircraft.
After Cooper and Kishida visit Toyota and HondaJet on Friday, Cooper and First Lady Christine Cooper are scheduled to host a state dinner at the Executive Mansion in Raleigh.
“Japanese investment in our state creates thousands of jobs and these companies contribute so much to our communities,” the governor said in a statement. “This historic visit provides a unique opportunity to showcase the best of North Carolina and continue to build this mutually beneficial relationship.”
