Central NC home for new Eli Lilly manufacturing campus

Pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly and Co. will build a new manufacturing operation in central North Carolina on the site of a former cigarette plant that’s already attracted other companies to the region.

Eli Lilly, which made the announcement on Friday with government officials, plans a five-building campus at The Grounds economic development site in Concord, news outlets reported. The nearly $1 billion investment will lead to nearly 600 jobs that will offer average salaries of nearly $70,000.

Indianapolis-based Eli Lilly will manufacture parenteral — or injectable — products and devices at the plant, according to Gov. Roy Cooper’s office. Eli Lilly has played a role in developing insulin and COVID-19 treatments.

Lilly could receive $12.1 million in payments from the state if it meets investment and job-creation goals that served as the basis for an incentives award. Concord and Cabarrus County leaders will hold meetings next month to consider performance-based property tax grants.

The company also announced in 2020 that it would build a plant in Research Triangle Park.

The Grounds, where Philip Morris once operated a plant, also will be the home for a manufacturing, canning and distribution hub operated by Red Bull, Rauch and Ball Corp. That announcement came last summer.