The grant provided funding to the City of Hickory for Project Enzyme, which is Cataler North America Corporation, a leading producer of automotive catalysts. The company outgrew its manufacturing plant in Lincoln County, NC, and expanded to a new facility to add to its existing capacity. It identified a site in the Trivium Corporate Center, a new business park being developed by the City of Hickory and Catawba County. The city and county have purchased or control 270 acres and are currently constructing park infrastructure. The site on which Cataler will locate required a water line extension of approximately 1,300 linear feet. The line serves at least two other industrial sites in the park. A private developer considered constructing a 100,000-square-foot spec building on one of those two sites. Cataler was expected to create 151 jobs and invest $37 million in machinery and equipment over the next five years, and $13 million in construction of the new facility. Salaries for the positions were expected to average $47,301, compared to the Catawba County average of $42,068. Cataler had considered locating this new plant in South Carolina.
