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News The announcement came Thursday after state leaders approved a grant worth as much as $5.6 million for the company, a division of German electronics giant Siemens. The Cary Town Council approved a $500,000 grant for Siemens at its meeting Thursday night. Siemens Medical Solutions, which makes medical gear and patient-monitoring systems, will create a service and training outpost in the Triangle. It already employs 678 in Cary and will consolidate other operations in a new building. The company will invest $60 million over five years. The new jobs will pay average annual wages of $73,000, according to the state, above the Wake County average of $41,964. "This is a very attractive project in an industry sector that is a target," Commerce Secretary Jim Fain said after approving the state incentives. North Carolina competed with Pennsylvania, where Siemens Medical Solutions is based, for the expansion. It is "a great win," Fain said. The expansion underscores the strength of the health-care sector, even amid a slumping economy, and its growing role in this state and region. The aging population has increased demand for medical services and technology, benefiting companies in that sector. More of those businesses have come to North Carolina in search of the talent necessary to develop equipment and drugs. The state is the nation's third-largest hub for biotechnology, as measured by the number of companies. Much of that activity is centered in the Triangle. British pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline has one of two North American headquarters in Research Triangle Park. Other drug makers, including Merck and Novartis, are expanding in the area. Siemens Medical Solutions cited the area's work force, the presence of the three major research universities and the incentives for its decision to expand in Cary. The company's own growth is fueled by acquisitions and rising demand for medical imaging, scanners and other technology it makes. That, in turn, has increased the need for hospitals and its own employees to improve their skills on the equipment. "They're expecting a lot more people going through there for training," said Tom Schaffner, a spokesman for Siemens Medical Solutions in Malvern, Pa. The company, which has its operation in Cary's MacGregor Park and is expected to expand there, will begin adding the 300 new jobs in 2009. To get the full value of the state grant, it will have to create all of those positions and maintain them for 10 years. It also would have to sustain the 678 existing jobs. |
