To view our videos, you need to
enable JavaScript. Learn how.
install Adobe Flash 9 or above. Install now.

Then come back here and refresh the page.

CHARLOTTE— A day after announcing its move to Charlotte, Chiquita Brands International announced they are working with a local architecture firm to design the interior office space at its new headquarters at NASCAR Plaza.

"It will be a very open, airy, lit, flexible environment and it's certainly a corporate headquarters for the 21st century," said LS3P Vice President Jeffrey Floyd.

It's a six-floor project slated to be finished by July of 2012. Floyd says construction alone will put at least 120 people to work.

"It brings a whole new, sort of international marketing company to the community and I think that's important for Charlotte as Charlotte continues to grow and expand,” added Floyd.

It's one of the first local companies to indirectly benefit from Chiquita's move from Cincinnati to Charlotte. That element proved a strong selling point for CEO Fernando Aguirre when defending the $22 million incentives package drafted to help bring the company here.

"Based on what I understand, the math worked out very well for the state," said Aguirre.

In order to get the incentive money, Chiquita must bring a minimum 375 jobs to the area. But new statistics from the NC Department of Commerce expect that number to be much higher, when taking those indirect jobs into account. Projections range from 518 jobs in 2012 to 1,024 in 2015.

"Marketing firms, legal firms, people that we're going to have to work with. Some will come with the people we already work with, but some, I'm sure will come from people who are here," added Aguirre.

The city of Charlotte's Economic Development Office is in charge of making sure Chiquita fulfills its expectations laid out in the incentive contract. Officials verify employment numbers by using tax data submitted to the IRS. If approved, Chiquita is scheduled to receive its first payment in 2013.

Over the next decade, the Commerce Department estimates the grant will help Chiquita pump in more than $800 million in economic impact across the state.