Lenovo Says It’s Here to Stay, Expand
By RICHARD M. BARRON
WHITSETT — Lenovo expects to grow beyond an opening staff of 160 workers at its new distribution-assembly plant in Greensboro, a company official told invited guests Thursday.
The computer company runs two shifts at the plant in Whitsett, where it ships ThinkCentre and other computers to major customers around the world, and has plenty of room for expansion, said Rory Read, Lenovo’s senior vice president for operations.
“We want to be seen as a growth company,” he told business and community leaders at the center, which has been operating since February. “This is the first step in what we believe could be continued and further growth.”
The $10 million building is the company’s first distribution center in the United States.
Inside the gleaming steel and concrete warehouse, workers move pallets, pull computers off high stacks of wire shelving or customize desktops and laptops.
It’s quiet work, in contrast to the roar of industrial machines that once dominated Greensboro.
Lenovo, a Chinese company that bought IBM’s personal computing business in 2005, chose the Greensboro area because the city has a nearly perfect combination of education opportunities, transportation and workers with good skills, Read said.
The site is also close to the company’s U.S. headquarters in Morrisville at Research Triangle Park.
“We want to be part of the economic landscape in Greensboro for many, many years,” Read said.
Read also touted the company’s decision to come to Guilford County without any public incentive money.
“We built this facility and didn’t put a single dime of burden of taxes on the people of North Carolina,” Read said. “That’s a very good thing.”
Lenovo got the center built and running on 21 acres in 272 days.
The jobs at the plant in Rock Creek Center are a mix of skilled and unskilled labor and pay an average salary of $37,500, said Ken Grissom, the general manager at the center.
Lenovo, with $16 billion in annual sales, is the world’s fourth- largest computer maker. It increased its market share to 7.5 percent in the fourth quarter of 2007, according to the Gartner research firm. The company is making a push into consumer sales after years of success with business customers.
Contact Richard M. Barron at 373-7371 or richard.barron@news- record.com
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