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Former Philip Morris site in Concord has new owner

CONCORD, N.C. — The Philip Morris site in Concord has a new owner after the cigarette production plant, which once employed thousands of people, sat empty for nearly five years.
 
The more than 2,000-acre site off Concord Parkway was just sold to Victory Industrial Park.
 
The company that purchased this property did not say exactly what it plans to do with it, but leaders in Cabarrus County hope the purchase leads to hundreds of good-paying jobs.

"The sight was the largest cigarette manufacturer in the United States," said Concord Mayor Scott Padgett. "I say when they closed they had 2,500 jobs, and these people were left with no jobs, no benefits."

Victory Industrial Park purchased the site for about $68 million and said it will be used for clean-technology infrastructure. 
 
"We have somewhere between three (hundred) and 500 active job seekers," said Keri Allman, director of the R3 Career Center, in Kannapolis.
 
She's waiting to hear more about the jobs that will be created; then her office will help job seekers brush up on the skills they'll need to be hired.
 
"There are a lot of people that are underemployed but they've taken a job to have income coming in, but the career goal is still not met," Allman said.
 
It's unclear how many jobs the company will create.