Data storage firm to add 460 jobs in RTP

Data storage firm NetApp, which has had a research and development hub in RTP since 2004, will invest nearly $76 million in the operation as part of its expansion, officials said.

Posted 5:44 p.m. Jul 23, 2012 — Updated 11:18 p.m. Jul 23, 2012

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. — Data storage firm NetApp plans to add 460 high-paying technology jobs at its Research Triangle Park operation in the next four years, officials said Monday.

The California-based company, which has had a research and development hub in RTP since 2004, will invest nearly $76 million to expand its data center operations, officials said.

NetApp already employs more than 1,400 people in RTP. The new jobs will pay $100,000, on average, plus benefits, which is more than doubled the $45,396 average annual wage in Wake County.

The new data center will build a private cloud-computing environment to provide virtual access for NetApp engineering labs around the world. It will also serve as a model for customers interested in building energy-efficient dynamic data centers and cloud environments.

The state Economic Investment Committee voted Monday to award a Job Development Investment Grant to NetApp. Under the terms of the grant, the company is eligible to receive 65 percent of the state withholding taxes from the new jobs for each of the 10 years in which it meets annual performance targets.

If NetApp meets the targets, the grant could yield as much as $11.78 million for the company.

Wake Technical Community College has agreed to provide custom training for NetApp, and that together with sales tax credits raises the total state incentives to more than $14.5 million.

As much as $4.5 million in local incentives, including infrastructure upgrades and property tax relief, were also part of the deal. The Wake County Board of Commissioners has set an Aug. 6 vote to approve them.

Gov. Beverly Perdue said another state was competing aggressively with North Carolina for the NetApp expansion.

"Whether you like that or not, when you choose not to compete with the incentives, you say goodbye to the company," Perdue said in defending the incentives offered the company. "Until the game changes around the country, that's the game in America."

Fortune magazine ranks NetApp at No. 6 on its national Best Places to Work list.

"NetApp takes pride in attracting and retaining the industry’s best people, and our expansion in RTP will enable us to continue to help our customers achieve business success," Denise Cox, senior vice president of global support, said in a statement.

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