News

Fletcher plant to add 68 jobs paying $47,000/year

By Bill Moss, Published: January 7, 2019

A $27 million expansion would make a Fletcher plant the world's largest maker of electromagnet tags used for retail and wholesale inventory tracking, economic development and company officials say.

The Henderson County Board of Commissioners on Monday heard a request to grant up to $537,575 in economic development incentives for Smartrac Technology Inc. to expand its plant at Cane Creek Industrial Park, creating 68 new jobs at an average wage of $47,000. The incentives, in the form of property tax rebate, would last up to five years, starting with $50,363 in the first year.

Smartrac makes radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags for tracking items from manufacturing to shipping to sale. The company operates plants in China and Maylasia that are similar in size to the Fletcher factory; the expansion will make the plant here the largest by far, said Chris Hykin, Smartrac's vice president for operations. The Partnership for Economic Development plans to seek economic development incentives next week from the Fletcher Town Council.