Dish maker decides to stay

Smithfield holds on to about 230 jobs and could get 200 more as Andrew Corp. cancels plans to relocate

Andrew Corp. has decided it wants to stay put after all.

The company had announced in December that it would move its satellite-dish manufacturing plant in Smithfield to Goldsboro after being offered at least $3.9 million in tax breaks and other incentives. Now it would lose those incentives, but the company is seeking financial assistance from Smithfield and Johnston County.

The plan would enable Smithfield to keep the approximately 230 jobs at the plant. Andrew also expects to create 204 new jobs eventually.

Staying put will be a better deal for Andrew, company spokesman Rick Aspan said Tuesday, because it will "avoid the complexities of relocation," the cost of moving heavy equipment and the longer commute for its employees.

In addition, the company rents the entire 750,000-square-foot facility, which is much more than it needs. Its new lease would let it rent much less space: 235,000 square feet.

Andrew's reversal is its second change of heart in six months.

In December, it abandoned plans to shift its Smithfield plant to Mexico after being promised $3.9 million in state and local incentives to move to a Wayne County site near Goldsboro. The company also was seeking an extra $500,000 in site development and training costs from Golden LEAF, the economic development foundation set up with money from a national tobacco settlement.

Aspan said the incentives it was promised were contingent on the company moving to Goldsboro. Although it is forgoing those incentives, Andrew's decision to remain in Smithfield is contingent on receiving financial assistance from the town and Johnston County.

The decision is a blow to Wayne County, which was looking forward to landing hundreds of jobs. Andrew had said the new jobs it created would pay $540 a week.

"Personally, I don't like it at all," said Joanna Thompson, president of the Wayne County Economic Development Commission. "Professionally, I understand it is a business decision."

But Wayne County's pain was Johnston's gain. "We are delighted that Andrew is considering staying here," said Michael de Sherbinin, director of the Johnston County Economic Development Commission.

As for the incentives being offered by Smithfield and Johnston County, de Sherbinin said: "We are still negotiating in good faith. ... We feel we are pretty close."

Andrew acquired assets from Channel Master after that company went bankrupt, including equipment and workers at the Smithfield plant, inventory and intellectual property.

Andrew's latest plan also means that North Carolina gets to keep hundreds of jobs without paying $1.4 million in incentives.

"I can't say it is bad news for North Carolina," said Don Hobart, general counsel for the Commerce Department. "It did work out for the workers and the company, and obviously for Johnston County."

Aspan said Andrew's earlier decisions to move were triggered by the fact that the Smithfield facility was up for sale, and the company's lease on the building was set to expire at the end of this year.

California-based Industrial Realty Group, which has agreed to buy the Smithfield facility for $6.1 million, wants to rent out the space for manufacturing and warehouse operations.

"Now we have a brand-new option that we didn't have before -- not moving," Aspan said. Andrew has an agreement to lease the space from IRG, which is expected to complete its purchase of the property next month.

IRG's president, Stuart Lichter, said his company doesn't yet have any deals to lease the rest of the Smithfield facility. There is space on the 123-acre site for other uses. "We are looking at putting some retail on the vacant land," he said.

Lichter declined to say how much rent IRG is charging Andrew, but IRG certainly could afford to offer a significant discount.

It paid $6.1 million for the Smithfield plant, or about $8 per square foot. A 1.15 million-square-foot former Winn-Dixie warehouse in Clayton sold this year for about $38 million, or about $33 per square foot.

Aspan said Tuesday's announcement won't affect Andrew's plan to shift about 50 office workers from Smithfield to Garner this year.

Last month, Andrew agreed to be acquired for stock valued at $2 billion by ADC Telecommunications, a Minnesota-based company that makes networking equipment for phone companies.

(Staff writer Jack Hagel contributed to this story.)