Bubble Wrap manufacturer to build new headquarters in Charlotte-Douglas area

CHARLOTTE – A Fortune 500 company that manufactures Bubble Wrap and Cryovac plastic food packaging is coming to town and plans to construct a new $50 million headquarters in the Charlotte-Douglas International Airport area in 2016.

Sealed Air Corp., a multinational company now based in metropolitan New York City, on Wednesday announced it would move 1,300 white collar jobs to Charlotte from its main office in Elmwood Park, N.J., and at least five other locations on the East Coast.

The company should be ready to unveil a building location and construction specifics within the next two months, said Sealed Air spokesman Ken Aurichio.

In the meantime, the company will start moving phases of employees into temporary quarters in Charlotte next year.

The jobs that will move include the executive staff and office-support operations like payroll, finance and logistics, Aurichio said. He also said that research and development teams will likely be part of the move, and that the new headquarters might include a separate R&D facility.

An N.C. committee that approves corporate tax breaks on Wednesday approved up to $36 million over 12 years if the company meets job and investment targets.

Charlotte competed with Greenville, S.C., for the Sealed Air headquarters, N.C. Commerce Department spokeswoman Kim Genardo said.

Sealed Air employs about 25,000 people in 175 countries, Aurichio said.