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Energy drink maker Red Bull and the filling company Rauch are partnering to build a new “state-of-the-art campus” for beverage manufacturing, can filling and distribution in Cabarrus County, state officials announced Tuesday.
The companies will invest a total of about $748 million on the project, according to Gov. Cooper’s office. In exchange for creating more than 400 new jobs, the companies could get more than $4 million in incentives over 12 years from the state, plus additional incentives from the county and city.
Details: The beverage production hub will take up 2 million square feet at The Grounds at Concord, which is the site of the former Philip Morris plant. According to the county, the hub will include:
- An 800,000-square-foot Red Bull regional distribution center, which will house 90 jobs.
- 1.4 million square feet of factory, distribution and office space for Rauch North America’s can-filling operation, which will employ 323.
Why it matters: This is the largest economic development project in Cabarrus County history, county officials said. The project, which officials codenamed Project Aquamarine, also brings new life to a property once buzzing with manufacturing jobs.
- The Philip Morris plant opened in 1983 and closed in 2007 when the cigarette maker’s parent company opted to consolidate work in Virginia, the Observer reported. The move impacted about 2,500 workers.
- In 2019, Carvana announced plans to open a 400-job auto facility at the former Philip Morris site, per the Observer.
“Red Bull and Rauch have chosen the largest manufacturing workforce in the Southeast and a resilient business climate with an excellent transportation infrastructure to support their long-term growth,” Cooper said in a statement.
