Tarboro Sara Lee plant expansion to add 45 jobs

Sara Lee Corp. is investing $11 million for new equipment in its Tarboro plant, which will create 45 new full-time jobs.

No government funding was involved in the project, Gov. Bev Perdue and company officials announced Wednesday afternoon.

“None of us had to put together an incentive package,” Perdue said in a tent pitched next to the plant before state and local officials. “None of us had to beg and plead because Sara Lee understood some things fundamentally about North Carolina and about our work force. Sara Lee didn’t ask for help from us (state officials) in this decision.”

Perdue said companies like Sara Lee can tap into a hard-working work force in Edgecombe County.

“We in North Carolina have a tremendously bold and hard work ethic,” Perdue said. “We’re not afraid of showing off and sweating a little and getting the job done. We know how to work and do the job.”

She said Sara Lee’s bakery products also are appreciated by North Carolinians, noting that many of the state’s 9½ million residents have tried them.

“You may belong to other people across this country, but in our hearts, you are us and we are you, and so we thank you for this expansion,” she said.

Perdue said Sara Lee’s decision also shows its confidence in the business climate in North Carolina, which has received accolades in national publications.

“This is a big day for us, and it’s a big day for North Carolina,” Perdue said. “And it’s a big day for America because a lot of the things that are made here go all over the country. They are not only going to be eaten by the people here in North Carolina.”

Dave Jones, a company senior vice president, said the company chose the Tarboro plant for expansion of its bakery product line because it had been stable, efficient and operating for 20 years.

“We’re very confident in the competency of the facility here,” he said.

He also noted that the Tarboro plant recently was recognized as the “supply-chain plant of the year” by Sara Lee.

The nearly 400,000-square-foot Sara Lee plant was remodeled to make room for the new equipment, which will produce bread products.

The new employees will be hired in December, Jones said. A job fair for applicants likely will be held in September or October at Edgecombe Community College, he added.

“The (new employees) will be trained,” he said.

The Carolinas Gateway Partnership provided technical assistance to Sara Lee on the project and is helping to put together a training program for the new employees at Edgecombe Community College, but no partnership funding was provided.

Oppie Jordan, vice president of the partnership, pointed out that Sara Lee has 142 plants nationwide and could have installed the new equipment at any one of those.

“The investment is in new equipment. It’s a whole new line. It is very expensive,” Jordan said.