Specialty ‘clean room’ construction company to invest $10M in Johnston County
A Richmond contractor specializing in clean room design and construction is investing more than $10 million in Johnston County to build its second dedicated manufacturing site.
AdvanceTEC — which counts Merck, Pfizer and other renowned biotechnology companies among its clients — will build a new, 12-acre facility off U.S. Hwy. 70 Business between Smithfield and Clayton, the company announced Monday.
Construction is expected to complete by the end of 2022, a spokesperson told The News & Observer. The site will initially employ about 25 specialists, earning $125,000 on average.
“We’ve been leasing space in Clayton for about five years,” Bryan Phelan, AdvanceTEC’s managing partner and director of customers, told the N&O. “But by making this new investment in Johnston County, it’s really going to enable us to take things up to the next level.”
AdvanceTEC prefabricates and installs clean rooms — spaces free of dust and other contaminants that could interfere with delicate biotechnology, nanotechnology and pharmaceutical research. The company was founded almost 22 years ago, but has not expanded beyond its Richmond headquarters until now.
“This was a huge decision, big commitment,” Phelan said. “We selected the region because of the density of clients that we serve there, as well as the the level of innovation that we see in North Carolina.”
Board of commissioner enthusiasm convinced company representatives to build in Johnston over nearby counties, such as Wake and Lee, according to Phelan.
“Johnston County’s place in the 21st century life sciences industry is taking an important step forward with the addition of AdvanceTEC as a corporate resident,” Chad M. Stewart, chairman of the Johnston County board of commissioners, said in a press release. “Our position at the center of numerous biotechnology companies and operations has helped draw leading companies like AdvanceTEC that have industry-specific expertise in demand by companies like Novo Nordisk, Grifols and a host of other life science and advanced technology operations both east and west of us.”
While AdvanceTEC chose North Carolina for its wealth of prospective clients in the life sciences industry, it hopes to secure projects across the southeastern states using Johnston County as a base.
“We are the market leader in what we do,” Phelan said. “And this investment is a strategic investment to distance ourselves from the rest of the pack and expand our reach.”
AdvanceTEC will create an economic impact of almost $16 million per year, according to an analysis by N.C. State economics professor Michael Walden, included in a press release. Walden predicts the company will generate more than $168,000 in county and municipal tax revenue each year.
This story was originally published November 2, 2021 at 4:01 PM with the headline "Specialty ‘clean room’ construction company to invest $10M in Johnston County."
