Lenovo Wants $14 Million From N.C. To Keep Jobs

The Herald-Sun said it had obtained documents outlining Lenovo's proposal, which included a $75 million campus to be built in the area, assuming Durham, the surrounding counties, and the state of North Carolina accede to its requests for subsidies, grants, and promises to buy Lenovo equipment.

Among the items in the memo were $2 million in community college training subsidies for new and existing employees, $8.5 million in grants to offset 11 percent of the facility cost, and tighter links with the state's university system.

On the latter, Lenovo wants to be involved in university computer science programs, as well as subsidies for employees' coursework in, among other subjects, Chinese language.

Although the newspaper said local business leaders have advised the city and county that they believe Lenovo is also considering Atlanta and Singapore as locations for the R&D center, a company spokesman denied that it would lay off current workers in the area and ship their jobs overseas if their requests weren't met.

Lenovo isn't the only PC maker as of late putting pressure on North Carolina. Before Dell made its decision to create a manufacturing plant in the state, it received promises of $242 million in tax breaks and grants.