Bayer to bring 128 jobs

May 7, 2009      The News and Observer

Jonathan B. Cox

May 7, 2009 (McClatchy-Tribune Regional News delivered by Newstex) -- Finally, jobs.

Bayer CropScience announced Wednesday that it will open a new research and development center in Morrisville, creating 128 jobs over five years.

The company, which has its North American headquarters in Research Triangle Park, already has substantial operations in the region, employing more than 400. The new jobs will have average annual salaries of $101,018.

"Bayer CropScience has strong roots in North Carolina and a firm commitment to continuing to grow our business here," CEO Bill Buckner said in a statement. "In addition to having one of the best-trained biotechnology work forces in the country, this region is also a center of agricultural and biotechnology innovation."

The company is a division of Germany's Bayer, which makes pesticides and other crop protection products. Bayer CropScience focuses on improving vegetable, rice, cotton and other crops, and works to develop plant-based solutions to global demand for food, fuel and fiber.

The new center in Morrisville will do basic plant research -- investigating ways to make plants more drought resistant, for example -- and support biotech product commercialization.

The promise of new jobs at Bayer CropScience contrasts with the routine of these times: job cuts. Companies across the region, from GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE:GSK) to IBM (NYSE:IBM) , have been trimming their work forces amid the recession.

Local unemployment has climbed to 8.3 percent. That's high for this region, by historic standards, but well below the state average of 10.8 percent.

State officials Wednesday morning awarded Bayer CropScience a grant worth as much as $2.3 million over nine years to win the jobs. To get the full amount, the company must meet annual employment and investment milestones, and it must maintain the 476 positions that already exist in North Carolina.

The project adds to an expanding cluster of agribusiness companies in the Triangle, already known worldwide as a biotechnology hotbed.

Last year, Cheminova, a Danish producer of insecticides and herbicides, moved its U.S. headquarters to RTP. And Syngenta (NYSE:SYT) , a longtime agribusiness company in the region, expanded its presence. Other agribusiness anchors include BASF and Arysta.

"This announcement validates our belief that there's a great opportunity to grow this significant industry," said Norris Tolson, N.C. Biotechnology Center CEO.

jonathan.cox@newsobserver.com or 919-836-4948

Newstex ID: 34723997

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