Health care staffing company plans to add high-paying 155 jobs in Raleigh's North Hills

Health care staffing company Weatherby Locums Inc. is planning an expansion and relocation that would add 155 jobs in the North Hills section of Raleigh, state officials said Tuesday.

The company — a unit of Midvale, Utah-based CHG Healthcare Services Inc. and operating under the Weatherby Healthcare umbrella — already employs 374 people in North Carolina. Most of those workers are in Durham. Weatherby says it plans to move those employees to Raleigh, where it plans to also create the new jobs.

The company, which helps medical facilities fill staffing gaps and cover difficult-to-fill specialties, expects to occupy 46,000 square feet of offices in One North Hills Tower, a new office building in the North Hills development just north of Interstate 440, Wake officials said. 

The North Carolina Department of Commerce officials on Tuesday approved an incentives package worth at least $2.1 million, including a $1.8 million jobs grant to be paid out over 12 years if the company hits hiring and investment targets.

The new jobs would pay an average of almost $205,000, which is almost three times the Wake County average, state officials said during a regular meeting of the Commerce Department's 's Economic Investment Committee. The company expects to create the new jobs by the end of 2029. The expansion is projected to grow the state’s economy by about $434 million over the life of the jobs grant, state officials said.

Weatherby expects to invest $7.6 million in the expansion by the end of 2025, commerce officials said. The majority of the new employees would be Weatherby sales employees who support individual physicians and health care organizations, officials said.

“We’re thrilled to be making the move to Raleigh," Luke Woodyard, president of Weatherby Healthcare, said in a statement. "We look forward to providing high-paying jobs and the best in workplace culture to Wake County residents.” 

The company would have to retain its existing jobs — in addition to creating the new positions — to receive the full jobs development grant.

Weatherby considered other locations, including one in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where Weatherby is headquartered, state officials said. The company chose Raleigh after considering talent availability, the availability and cost of real estate and state and local incentives. Long-term growth potential was also a consideration, officials said.

Wake County and Raleigh officials also offered the company incentives worth about $120,000, state officials said.

The deal represents at least the 40th economic development announcement in the past five years, bringing more than 11,000 jobs to the county, according to Wake County Board of Commissioners Chair Shinica Thomas.

Weatherly is the latest tenant to land at One North Hills Tower. In August, A Wisconsin insurance company Jewelers Mutual Group said it plans to add 200 jobs in the building as part of a new innovation hub. In May, international cigarette manufacturer JT International U.S.A. Inc. said it would relocate its U.S. headquarters to the building, bringing more than 100 jobs to the building.

Transportation consultant HNTB Corp., financial services firm Raymond James & Associates Inc. have also leased or occupied space in the tower, according to Kane Realty, which developed and manages the building. The Starboard Holding Cos., which owns several businesses in various sectors, also committed to space at the building.