Another new business is coming to town, bringing with it about 30 jobs paying $30,000 to $40,000 annually.

Ferguson Enterprises, based in Newport News, Va., will open a distribution center in a 30,000-square-foot vacant building off U.S. 70 East, behind a Chrysler-Plymouth automobile dealership, Lenoir County Economic Development Director Mark Pope said. The target date for opening is spring to early summer.

The company already is beginning to move in equipment and machinery.

Ferguson has 10 North Carolina sites, including one each in New Bern and in Greenville.

The company is the largest U.S. distributor of plumbing supplies, with about 800 locations in the U.S. and Mexico. Ferguson's customers include plumbing contractors, kitchen and bath dealers, municipalities, and manufacturers. The firm offers pipes and valves, faucets and fixtures, and heating and air-conditioning parts, as well as waterworks products (such as water hydrants and meters), safety equipment, and tools.

Ferguson, which was formed in 1953, is growing rapidly through acquisitions. Wolseley, the world's No. 1 plumbing and heating equipment distributor, bought Ferguson in 1982. Wolseley is headquartered in England.

Ferguson will receive $24,000 in incentives: $13,600 from Lenoir County and $10,400 from Kinston. The incentives are performance-based and will paid over the next three years, if the company fulfills its promise of job creation and employee salaries.

Otherwise, Pope said, Ferguson will receive a portion of the incentives equal to its performance.

The company showed revenue of $5 billion in 2005. Ferguson had 18,500 employees last year and showed employee growth of 42.3 percent.

Print this page

Have an opinion. Register Here and post on our Message board.