$268.7 Million Talecris Expansion on the Way

Town officials got a good look at what Talecris Biotherapeutics' new $268.7 million expansion is going to look like recently when the company came before the Town Council to work out some construction details.

The company is planning an ultra-modern 155,000-sq.ft., four-story complex that will bring 259 new high-paying jobs to town and allow the company to initiate new technologies in its operations.

Company officials asked the town recently to allow a variance to present Industrial Zoning laws that restrict the height of buildings to 50 feet, which the Council did. The company's new complex is about 74 feet high.

The new facility, which is expected to take up to five years to complete, will expand the company's work with blood plasma in developing medicines to treat a number of diseases. It will increase the company's full-time workforce to more than 2,000 in Johnston County and about 5,000 worldwide. The new jobs created by the expansion will pay an overall annual salary of more than $51,000, not including benefits, which is much higher than the county average of about $34,000.

The major expansion was announced to huge fanfare a few months ago in a meeting at the Clayton Center that attracted many of the top leaders across the state, including Gov. Bev Purdue who praised successful efforts to keep the huge pharmaceutical company in Clayton despite efforts by other states to lure the company away. Mayor Jody McLeod called it "one of the greatest days in the history of Clayton."

The huge company discovers, develops and produces critical-care treatments for people with life-threatening disorders in the areas of immunology, neurology, pulmonology and hemostasis.