7 December 2015

Qorvo to invest $25m and hire 100 staff in next 3 years to expand Greensboro operations

Qorvo Inc of Greensboro, NC and Hillsboro, OR, USA (which provides core technologies and RF solutions for mobile, infrastructure and aerospace/defense applications) is to invest $25m in North Carolina by opening a new facility in Guilford County and hiring 100 staff over the next three years (adding to Qorvo’s existing workforce of more than 1400 in Greensboro plus 1000 in Hillsboro), according to an announcement by North Carolina governor Pat McCrory, commerce secretary John E. Skvarla III, and the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina (EDPNC).  

Qorvo was formed in January by the merger of RF component makers TriQuint Semiconductor Inc of Hillsboro, OR, USA and RF Micro Devices Inc, which was founded in Greensboro in 1991, and has a design center in High Point, NC (also in Guilford County). RFMD and TriQuint had combined revenues of $2.1bn in 2014.

As part of its $25m expansion, Qorvo is planning to invest $19.5m in a 150,000ft2 R&D center adjacent to its corporate offices in Greensboro plus $5.5m in equipment. Qorvo’s expanded operations should help to accelerate product development. The extra staff will include new engineering jobs with average annual salaries of about $80,000 per year. Guilford County’s overall annual wage is $43,581.

“We appreciate the outstanding support provided by the State of North Carolina as Qorvo builds on its technology and product leadership to serve our many global customers,” comments Qorvo’s president & CEO Bob Bruggeworth. “North Carolina offers an excellent economic climate for growth and innovation as we continue to expand here and in our other locations.”

Qorvo’s expansion in North Carolina was made possible in part by a performance-based grant of up to $500,000 from the One North Carolina Fund, which provides financial assistance to support local governments in creating jobs and attracting economic investment. Companies receive no money upfront and must meet job creation and capital investment targets to qualify for grant funds. All One NC grants require a local government match. In September the Guilford County Board of Commissioners approved providing up to $333,570 in performance-based incentives to Qorvo, and the Greensboro City Council approved up to $544,279 in performance-based incentives.

In addition to North Carolina Commerce and EDPNC, other key partners in the project include the City of Greensboro, Greensboro Partnership, High Point Economic Development Corporation, Guilford County, Guilford County Workforce Development Board, Guilford Tech Community College, NC A&T University, UNC Greensboro, Duke Energy and Piedmont Natural Gas. Greensboro Partnership says that Qorvo will recruit talent from local colleges and schools, including N.C. A&T State University, UNC Greensboro and Guilford Technical Community College.

See related items:

Qorvo announces closing of $1bn senior notes offering

Qorvo's quarterly revenue grows 6% as mobile products growth outweighs 40% drop in wireless infrastructure

Tags: Qorvo RF

Visit: www.qorvo.com