Fujifilm unit to announce $1B NC expansion ahead of Japanese prime minister's visit

Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies is planning to add more than 600 jobs as part of a $1 billion expansion in North Carolina, people familiar with the plans told WRAL. It would be the latest investment in the state by the vaccine maker, which has been undergoing a growth spurt in the Triangle over the past two years.

Executives of the company, a subsidiary of Tokyo-based conglomerate Fujifilm, and state officials could announce the plans as early as Thursday. The timing coincides with a visit by Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who is meeting with North Carolina officials and executives to commemorate economic partnerships between the country and the state.

State officials in charge of approving economic incentives for business recruitment are scheduled to hold a special meeting Thursday morning. North Carolina Commerce Department officials haven’t disclosed the subject of the meeting, but the department’s Economic Investment Committee often meets prior to major corporate announcements.

Gov. Roy Cooper is scheduled to make an economic development announcement Thursday at noon in Raleigh alongside officials from Wake County and the town of Holly Springs, where Fujifilm Diosynth is building a mammoth manufacturing facility.

Kishida is scheduled to land at Raleigh-Durham International Airport later in the day. Asked Tuesday if Kishida’s visit might coincide with any big economic announcements, Cooper told WRAL: “We're going to be announcing something pretty soon this week. So hopefully more jobs for our state. So we're very excited about that.”

Cooper's visit with Japan's Kishida could coincide with a major NC jobs announcement

Economic development deals are highly secretive, and Cooper didn’t provide additional details about the announcement or the company involved.

A Cooper spokesman declined to comment on Wednesday, as did a spokesperson for Wake County. Holly Springs Mayor Sean Mayefskie didn’t respond to a message seeking comment.

“We at the Commerce Department talk to a lot of companies when they are in the process of making their site selection decisions, but we don't talk about those conversations until the companies have made public declarations of their decision,” said David Rhoades, a spokesman for the North Carolina Department of Commerce.

A spokesperson for Fujifilm didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment late Wednesday.

Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies is a contract development and manufacturing organization, meaning it makes products for other pharmaceutical companies such as Novavax. The companies partnered on a Covid-19 vaccine in 2020.

Fujifilm Diosynth’s North Carolina site has been in operation since 1996, and it maintains a campus in Morrisville. In 2021, North Carolina officials approved an incentives grant worth up to $19.7 million to support Fujifilm Diosynth’s $2 billion, 725-job expansion in Holly Springs. The project — one of the biggest end-to-end biopharmaceutical manufacturing facilities in the nation — is expected to be complete in 2025. The facility will help the company manufacture, package and label medications and other therapies at an enormous scale.

The jobs that could be announced this week are expected to be in addition to those announced in the initial plan. The company has been attracted to the region because of its strong pool of biotech workers — a factor for other biotech and pharma companies that look to grow in the Triangle.

The region’s talent pool was also a factor for Japanese pharmaceutical company Kyowa Kirin, which said in February that it would add 102 jobs in Sanford over the next four years.

“That's our secret sauce — of why Japanese companies have continued to invest in North Carolina, because they know they're going to get the best workers in the world here,” Cooper told WRAL on Tuesday.

Kyowa Kirin was among several Japanese companies to select North Carolina for operations after Cooper attended an economic development conference in Tokyo last year — part of a years-long effort by Cooper to make inroads with business leaders there.

Those relationships are expected to be central to Kishida’s visit to North Carolina this week. Cooper announced last week that he would host Kishida on Thursday and Friday — an extremely rare visit to North Carolina by a sitting international head of state. The pair are expected to meet with executives at Toyota and HondaJet in the Triad on Friday.

North Carolina is expected to be Kishida’s only U.S. stop after a meetings Wednesday at the White House with President Joe Biden. During the Washington visit, Biden and Kishida discussed the importance of investment between Japan and the U.S., highlighting investments by Japanese companies in North Carolina. They also discussed continued cooperation in research and development and establishing start-up environments that promote innovation, according to a summary of their discussion provided by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan. In a joint statement, the leaders highlighted Toyota’s $13.9 billion investment in North Carolina.

Japan is one of the United States' largest trading partners, and the largest source of foreign investment in North Carolina. At least 225 Japanese companies have large footprints in the state, employing nearly 30,000 people, according to the governor’s office. That number is expected to grow by thousands more jobs in the coming years, Cooper’s office said in October.

Japanese companies focused on aerospace, biotechnology and clean energy have flocked to North Carolina in recent years.

After Cooper’s most recent trip to Tokyo, in October, Toyota announced it would more than double the size of a massive electric vehicle battery factory in Randolph County. The company’s $14 billion factory, which is between Greensboro and Pittsboro, is expected to eventually employ more than 5,000 people — an investment that is expected to spur residual growth of contractors and services in the area.

Japanese prime minister to visit North Carolina, highlight economic ties

Fujihatsu & Toyotsu Battery Components, a partnership between Fujihatsu Tech America and Toyota Tsusho America, said in February it would create 133 new jobs in a new electric vehicle battery manufacturing facility in Liberty. FTBC is investing $60 million in the project, which will support Toyota’s battery manufacturing unit.

Cooper’s administration also pushed for years to recruit a HondaJet facility to the Piedmont Triad International Airport. Greensboro is now the global headquarters for Honda Aircraft.

After Cooper and Kishida visit Toyota and HondaJet on Friday, Cooper and first lady Kristin Cooper are scheduled to host a state dinner at the Executive Mansion in Raleigh.

“Japanese investments in our state create thousands of jobs and these companies contribute so much to our communities,” the governor said in a statement. “This historic visit provides a unique opportunity to showcase the best of North Carolina and continue to build this mutually beneficial relationship.”