Specialty chemicals firm Albemarle Corp. plans to move its headquarters and 120 jobs to Charlotte.
The move represents a $13 million investment for Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) as it relocates from Baton Rouge, La., says Luke Kissam, Albemarle CEO. He says the company is looking forward to expanding its North Carolina presence after buying Rockwood Holdings Inc., which operates Rockwood Lithium in Kings Mountain.
“Albemarle and North Carolina will be great partners,” Kissam says in a news release about the move.
Albemarle qualifies for a $2 million Job Development Investment Grant from the state of North Carolina.
The company says the average annual salary for the headquarters jobs is $169,425, much higher than the average annual wage in Mecklenburg County of slightly less than $60,000.
Rockwood Lithium, which came with the Rockwood Holdings deal for Albemarle, has 137 employees and contractors at the Kings Mountain facility. Those workers won’t be affected by Albemarle’s move to Charlotte, the company says.
Albemarle is in the process of negotiating a real estate deal for a headquarters location in Charlotte, says Sam Pruitt of Site Selection Group in Dallas, Texas. Pruitt helped Albemarle in selecting a headquarters city. Tripp Guin of Tripp Commercial in Charlotte also assisted.
Founded in 1994, Albemarle makes chemicals that are used for manufacturing consumer electronics and plastics as well as in metal processing, transportation, refining, pharmaceuticals, agriculture and construction.
It has customers in 100 countries.
Around the world, Albemarle has 6,900 employees.
