GREENSBORO, N.C. — With an aging facility, and desire to maintain a safe work environment, the Greensboro agricultural company Syngenta is exploring their future in the city.
Incentives to help keep the company here could be part of that future.
A spokesperson for Syngenta says the age of the current site at 410 Swing Road in Greensboro, is prompting the search for future options.
Syngenta says the city of Greensboro could offer up to around $1.7 million to expand in the city and retain 650 jobs at an average salary of $107,000.
Guilford County is also looking at offering incentives with a potential price tag of around $1.9 million in county funds.
"Syngenta will be looking to invest $70 million dollars into a facility in Greensboro. That’s significant because that means more to Greensboro’s tax base, more we can do for our community in a whole host of areas," said Greensboro City Council Member Justin Outling.
Both the city and the county are holding public hearings on the topic, according to Syngenta, and after those sessions is when the company will announce a decision about the future of it's Greensboro site.
Syngenta says in the last year, the company has taken a comprehensive look at the facilities on Swing Road in Greensboro, and due to the ongoing repairs and renovations required for the building to maintain a safe workspace, the company is looking at options for the future.
"These include renovating our current facilities, as well as moving to a new location in the area or elsewhere," said Paul Minehart, a spokesperson for the company.
Outling says if approved, the money would come from the economic development fund, which is budgeted for and won't cost taxpayers more money.
"Before any money would go to anyone, whether it's on this project or any other - it's after the jobs have stayed it's after the capital investments have been made on a schedule agreed to by the parties," said Outling.
Syngenta has two locations in North Carolina: one in Greensboro and one at Research Triangle Park. The company says they have more than 1,000 employees throughout the state.
It's Greensboro facility is about 70 acres with a focus on crop protection products. More than 650 full-time employees work at the Greensboro site, according to Syngenta.