Commercial Bakery Brings 84 New Jobs

Work is expected to begin this summer on a $25.4 million state-of-the-art commercial bakery in East Clayton that will bring 84 good-paying jobs to town.

The new jobs will average nearly $42,000 a year in salary, which is much more than the Johnston County average of $31,408.

"This is a tremendous development for our town and county," said Mayor Jody McLeod. "These jobs are badly needed, with so many in our area out of work. Our economic development team worked hard to make this happen."

Northeast Foods, which is based in Baltimore, will bake hamburger buns for McDonalds, supplying restaurants in this section of the country. Company President Bill Paterakis said the facility will feature "the latest technology in automated baking equipment" that can bake up to 72,000 buns an hour.

“We believe our new bakery will be a win-win for our company, McDonald’s and the people of North Carolina," Paterakis said. "This expansion will allow us to continue to provide the highest quality products to McDonald’s and their customers in this part of the U.S.”

He said BusinessWeek magazine's recent ranking of Clayton in the top 10 of the best town in the nation for affordability and quality of schools made the town attractive to his company. The nearby Interstate highways also made a difference, he said.

The new 80,000-sq.ft facility, which should be operational in about a year, will serve two Golden State Foods distribution centers, one in nearby Garner and another in Lexington, SC. The company is the largest supplier of buns for McDonald's in the United States.

Northeast Foods was also lured to Clayton by more than $2 million in grants and tax breaks. The company is expected to get about a million dollars in tax breaks from Johnston County, plus just over $797,000 in tax forgiveness from the Town of Clayton, spread out over the next eight years. The NC Commerce Department's One North Carolina Fund will kick in a $350,000 grant.

The County unemployment rate has been holding steady around 10 percent in recent months, as the country's economic downturn persists.