Premix Oy will spend $47 million to build a compounding plant in North Carolina.

Helsinki-based Premix has received a $79.9 million contract from the U.S. Department of Defense for products made at the Gaston County plant, primarily compounds used in diagnostic testing. The plant is expected to be open by September 2025.

When fully operational, the plant will employ 30-35. The site will include manufacturing, warehousing, offices and lab space for its diagnostic testing operations.

"Our hard work in building resilient supply chains, high product quality and consistency pays off, as the U.S. government awarded Premix the deal to build a local manufacturing site," Managing Director Hanna Ristola said in a news release.

Family-owned Premix is a market leader in electrically conductive plastics. Officials said that during the COVID-19 pandemic, the firm ensured global PCR tests by securing availability of compounds used to make pipette tips.

The new plant will make those same compounds to meet growing demand and stringent quality requirements for diagnostic testing. The increased production capacity will result in material for pipette tips enabling more than 200 million COVID-19 PCR tests monthly.

"The new capacity will improve Premix's global supply capability and mitigate risks in global supply chains," President and CEO Jari-Matti Mehto said. "With the new U.S. factory, we will improve our ability to serve our customers in the important U.S. market."

The agreement with the Department of Defense was funded through the American Rescue Plan Act to enable and support U.S. domestic industrial base expansion for critical medical resources.

Premix is receiving a performance-based grant of $75,000 from the One North Carolina Fund for the new plant. The One N.C. Fund provides financial assistance to local governments to help attract economic investment and to create jobs.

"This is outstanding news for our region and the entire state," N.C. Representative John Torbett said. "These new jobs and investments affirm Gaston County's reputation for international companies that want to their presence in the U.S. market."

Premix was founded in the early 1980s. The firm has production sites in Finland and at a joint venture in China.

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