Durham light maker plans to add 300 more in the next three years

By Monica Chen

mchen@heraldsun.com; 419-6636

DURHAM -- A day after the Dell plant in Winston-Salem announced it was going to lay off 905 workers, light maker Cree Inc. announced plans to boost its workforce in Durham by more than a third on Thursday.

Cree expects to hire a total of 275 workers this year -- some of whom are already on board -- and an additional 300 workers in the next three years, a total of 575 new hires by the end of 2012.

The new hires will boost the company's manufacturing of its light-emitting diodes and meet other staffing needs, Cree said. Prior to this year's hirings, the company employed 1,500 people in Durham and 3,200 total worldwide.

Cree also expects to expand the manufacturing capacity in its Durham facility and through contracting with electronics manufacturing services provider Flextronics in the Charlotte area.

Gov. Beverly Perdue visited Cree's headquarters in Durham's Research Triangle Park to speak on the jobs creation on Thursday and fielded questions on the Dell plant, which had received substantial state and local incentives.

Perdue lamented the Dell jobs losses, but said competition between states in offering incentives for companies likely won't be going away any time soon.

North Carolina has one of the highest unemployment rates in the country, Perdue pointed out. "We're all hungry for jobs," she said.

Although Cree has received state incentives before -- including $20 million for 300 new jobs in 2004 -- the expansion plans announced Thursday will be achieved without incentives.

"I believe that green jobs must be a cornerstone of North Carolina's 21st Century economic development paradigm," Perdue said to a crowd of state and local officials and company employees.

Perdue also mentioned that her home in New Bern is being upfitted with LED lights. LEDs use less electricity and have longer life spans, and Perdue noted that with her new lights, she won't have to change another light bulb for 20 years.

"If we want to be a leader in green technology, we must live it every day," said Cree President Chuck Swoboda.

This year marks the 20-year anniversary of the first blue LED commercialized by Cree. The homegrown company was founded by N.C. State University graduates in 1987.

The company has grown in spite of the national recession, reporting record revenues of $148.1 million for its fourth quarter. For fiscal year 2009 ending June 30, Cree reported revenues of $567.3 million, a 15 percent increase from the previous year. Net income was $30.3 million.

To further boost its capital, Cree made a public stock offering of 12.65 million shares in September. Total net proceeds are expected to be $434.1 million.

Although Cree executives have remained vague on possible uses of that cash, the company said in the initial announcement of the offering that proceeds will be used for "anticipated capital expenditures of approximately $150 million in fiscal year 2010 and additional future capital expenditure needs ... ."

The company will hold fiscal 2010's first quarter earnings call on Oct. 20.

"Green tech jobs are a real opportunity for our state and our country," Swoboda said. He spoke in favor of regulations and policies to incentivize companies and utilities to use more technologically efficient products, such as Cree's LED lights, that conserve energy.

Perdue has made green jobs one of the focuses of her administration.

With $265 million in federal funds coming to North Carolina for renewable energy, energy efficiency and weatherization coming, the funds would provide seed money for a new Energy Revolving Loan Fund in addition to the expanded Green Business Fund, according to the governor's office.

In August, Perdue signed a bill to strengthen state energy policy leadership and announced $950,000 in Green Business Fund grants.

"You prove at Cree simply that green is gold in North Carolina," Perdue said.

Cree shares closed up 47 cents at $37.10 on Thursday.