Sep. 25--DURHAM -- EMC Corp. is planning to add 397 jobs and invest $280 million in its Triangle facilities in the next five years, the data-storage company and the governor's office announced Thursday.

But whether the project will move forward still depends on whether Durham city and county officials will offer incentives to the company in the coming weeks.

EMC would like to establish a new research facility in Durham as well as hire more workers for its manufacturing facility in Apex, the sales office in Raleigh and facilities in Durham's Research Triangle Park, where the company has about 300 software and research and development workers.

The Hopkinton, Mass.-based company has about 750 workers in the Triangle and a total of 900 workers in the state. EMC's global workforce numbers about 37,000.

"This is an overall part of a restructuring plan we announced in January to consolidate our real estate, reduce our energy and cost consumption and drive synergy across the company," said Bob Hawkins, vice president of EMC's North Carolina operations. "We did a nationwide search for skilled workers and an abundance of low-cost energy."

"North Carolina presented an attractive package," he added.

The state Economic Investment Committee approved unanimously a Job Development Investment Grant to EMC on Thursday, which could yield as much as $7.4 million for the company.

Under the terms of the JDIG, the company is eligible to receive a grant equal to 75 percent of the state personal income withholding taxes that are derived from the creation of new jobs, for each of the nine years in which the company meets annual performance targets.

The 397 new jobs will pay an average salary of $73,325 a year, well above Durham's annual average of $57,772 and the Wake average of $43,160, according to the governor's office.

Kevin Dick, director of Durham's Office of Economic and Workforce Development, declined to comment on possible city/county incentives to EMC on Thursday.

Ted Conner, vice president of Economic Development for the Greater Durham Chamber of Commerce, said via e-mail that EMC's expansion would be a boost to the local economy.

"This is indeed a win-win-win situation for all parties involved," he wrote.

EMC, which is celebrating its 30th year in business this year, posted a record $14.9 billion in total consolidated revenue for 2008, growing 12 percent from the previous year and marking the company's sixth consecutive year of double-digit annual revenue growth. Net income for 2008 was $1.35 billion.

Hawkins said low-cost energy was an important factor in EMC's decision to expand in the Triangle, especially since the new facility in Durham will be a data center and lab.

Hawkins declined to say where the new facility would be located, or how many workers will be housed there. The company does not have immediate plans to expand the footprints of its existing facilities in RTP and Wake County, he said.

The company had been in talks with other areas in North America about expansion plans.

"It's a very competitive economic process. The states are very hungry for business," Hawkins said.

EMC's investment in the Triangle could also be a boon to the state's economically distressed areas.

When a JDIG is awarded in the state's more economically prosperous counties, such as Durham or Wake, 25 percent of the grant award is allocated to the Industrial Development Fund to encourage economic development in less prosperous counties.

Up to $2.48 million could be added to the state's Industrial Development Fund, according to the governor's office.

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