MOCKSVILLE, N.C. (Feb. 24, 1:15 p.m. ET) -- Injection molder Carolina Precision Plastics LLC is in preliminary planning stages for a facility in Mocksville.

Carolina Precision President and CEO Brian Tauber said local government officials have committed $250,000 in a grant from the One North Carolina Fund to help get the project started. However, Tauber said his firm hasn’t closed on the deal to buy an existing building and has not yet given the project a green light.

“The government committed first before we could move on the project,” Tauber said.

Carolina Precision already runs two molding plants in North Carolina, in Greensboro and Asheboro, which together employ about 280.

“We need to decide whether we can use the extra capacity,” Tauber said in a Feb. 23 telephone interview. If the firm decides to move forward, he expects to close on the property by mid-to-late March. The company could provide more details at that time.

North Carolina Gov. Bev Perdue said in a Feb. 22 news release that Carolina Precision is planning a $5.3 million investment over three years that will create 140 jobs. Tauber said those details and the announcement are premature.

Carolina Precision injection and blow molds mostly consumer packaging for cosmetic and health-care markets. Its other end markets include office supplies, automotive, food and beverage and industrial.

Tauber said he could not speculate on what production would be done in a new North Carolina plant or whether it would replace existing capacity. The firm also runs molding plants in Stratford, Conn. — acquired in 2009 as part of ATP Plastics Inc.’s health and cosmetics division — and in China.

“Our history of investing in education and workforce training have helped create a business climate that enables companies like Carolina Precision Plastics to expand and thrive,” Perdue said in the news release issued by the governor’s office.

The governor’s office estimated the annual wage of the new jobs will be $39,183 plus benefits, compared with the average annual wage of $28,808 for Davie County, where Mocksville is located.