Coated films firm to move HQ to Cary

Loparex LLC plans to invest $18.9 million to move its offices from Chicago and expand its manufacturing operation in Eden. The moves will create 128 jobs – 68 in Eden and 60 in Cary – during the next 3½ years. The company already has 92 employees in Eden.

The average wage of the Eden jobs is expected to be $52,323, plus benefits, while the average wage of the Cary jobs is expected to be $93,347, plus benefits.

The state’s Economic Investment Committee met Wednesday and voted unanimously to award a Job Development Investment Grant to Loparex. If the company meets specified targets for job retention, job creation and average wages, it will a rebate equal to 60 percent of the state withholding tax on the new jobs.

The company could receive up to $2.35 million over nine years under the grant.

Loparex's coated papers and films are used in many pressure-sensitive adhesive applications, such as backings for heart-monitor electrode pads and transdermal patches that deliver medicine through the skin. Its products and processes also are used in the automotive industry, for turbine propellers that generate wind power and for precise die-cutting used in mobile phones and digital cameras.

“Our customers demand innovation, global market capability and high-value, cost-effective product solutions. Our presence in North Carolina will further strengthen our ability to meet those demands,” Chief Executive Mike Apperson said in a statement.

“Expanding our manufacturing capability in Eden also expands our business opportunities,” Mike Werner, vice president of sales and marketing, said in a statement. “The synergy of these two significant business decisions – the Eden expansion and relocation of our headquarters to the Research Triangle – sets us apart in our industry.”

Of the $18.9 million planned investment, $16.9 million will go to the Rockingham County expansion, with the remaining $2 million in Wake County for the new headquarters, officials said.