BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company) has announced plans to invest $38.4 million to build a warehouse and East Coast distribution center that will start employing 187 people in 2012 in the Johnston County community of Four Oaks.
BD, a global medical technology company that develops, manufactures and sells devices, instrument systems and reagents, recently concluded a $20 million expansion in Alamance County, where it has grown to about 40 employees since buying TriPath Imaging four years ago.
The company, headquartered in Franklin Lakes, N.J., has other facilities in the Triad and in Research Triangle Park. Since it first moved into North Carolina 38 years ago, BD has grown to occupy five locations employing some 900 people.
Gov. Bev Perdue said North Carolina will provide a $600,000 grant from the One North Carolina Fund as an incentive for the project, which requires a local match.
She said the average pay for the new BD jobs in Johnston County will be $28,771 plus benefits -- slightly below the county average of $31,408, but welcome nonetheless.