More than 200 full-time manufacturing jobs will be created in Tobaccoville, North Carolina, over the next four years by R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, as it begins production of VUSE digital vapor cigarettes for R.J. Reynolds Vapor Company under a services agreement between the two companies.

According to Reynolds American Inc., parent company of R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, a multi-million dollar investment will also be made for high-speed, next-generation e-cigarette manufacturing equipment at R.J. Reynolds’ Tobaccoville manufacturing complex.

“VUSE is a game-changing product and a tangible demonstration of our companies’ mission to transform the tobacco industry,”said Susan M. Cameron, President/CEO of Reynolds American Inc., the parent company of both R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company and R.J. Reynolds Vapor Company. “We need additional production capacity for VUSE to support the national roll-out of the brand, and the highly trained workforce here in our home state of North Carolina made it the perfect choice for our expansion location.”

Cameron said that VUSE is the top-selling vapor cigarette in Colorado and Utah, the two states in which it has broad distribution and full marketing support. A national roll-out of VUSE will begin this summer.

If our past successes in converting smokers to VUSE are any indication of our future response from adult tobacco consumers nationwide, we’ll need new-generation, high-speed equipment and a larger workforce to support market demand,” Cameron said.

Installation of the new-generation equipment will begin this summer. Currently, production of VUSE cartridges and other components is done for R.J. Reynolds.

Vapor Co. at a contractor’s facility in Kansas. Cameron said that both the existing facility and the new equipment will be needed for the foreseeable future to meet anticipated market demand for VUSE.

“Transforming our community for the better is part of our overall commitment to transforming the tobacco industry,” Cameron said. “We’ve done that in a number of ways –through philanthropy, through the donation of properties and buildings to fuel economic development, and through employee volunteerism. But I can tell you, it sure feels good to be announcing new jobs and a major investment in equipment right here in North Carolina.”