DURHAM, N.C. (WNCN) — Meta’s footprint in the United States will soon include a location in the heart of Durham.

On Monday afternoon, Meta public affairs manager Ryan Daniels confirmed the social media networking giant is planning a location in the Bull City.

According to its website, this would mark Meta’s second location in North Carolina. The first is located in Forest City, about an hour west of Charlotte.

“This is a great sign that they view North Carolina and the Triangle as a growth region for them,” said North Carolina Tech Association President/CEO Brooks Raiford.

Raiford said the Triangle has strong talent coming out of the many colleges, a strong existing workforce, and factors that make people want to move here like good weather and quality of life.

When asked where exactly the new location would be within the American Tobacco Campus, Daniels did not comment. CBS 17 also inquired what the focus of the location will be. Those details are not being shared at this time.

Meta officials later said about 100 people will be employed in the Durham office.

CBS 17 also asked Meta for a salary range for the jobs, but it did not provide one. Meta job postings for Durham on third-party sites — like Indeed and LinkedIn — show a range between $127,000-$241,000.

Downtown Durham Inc. CEO Nicole J. Thompson said it’s hard to estimate the exact economic impact to Downtown without knowing each salary, but said 100 new people paying rent, going out to eat, and shopping at local businesses will be a boost.

“One hundred may not seem like a lot, but you know as we come out of a pandemic, a global pandemic, and as our downtown is starting to slowly wake back up and realize what it looks like after COVID, 100 people is a lot,” Thomspon said.

Durham Mayor Pro-Tem Mark-Anthony Middleton said the move is a blessing that comes with challenges, like more pressure on housing affordability.

“We certainly welcome them to Durham, but we welcome them to a Durham that wants to make sure that all of our citizens and residents get to participate in this great economic upswing that’s occurring in this region,” Middleton said.

He hopes there will be opportunities for Durham Public School students to participate in apprenticeships.

The move to Durham comes after tens of thousands of layoffs in the tech industry recently, including 11,000 from Meta in November.

“It’s not terribly uncommon even in a good economy for tech employers to have some layoffs in areas where they are deemphasizing their focus, but also hiring at the same time hire in other areas, and we’re seeing that now,” Raiford said.

Meta did not say when it expects the jobs to be filled.