Andrew Corp. will move assets acquired from Channel Master LLC into a new facility in Wayne County, N.C., in 2006 and expand the company’s workforce, North Carolina Governor Mike Easley announced Dec. 22.

In 2003, Andrew bought selected assets of Channel Master LLC out of bankruptcy, including the company’s Johnston County plant that manufactures a variety of satellite communications-related products. Andrew had been considering moving the operations to South Carolina, Mexico or Illinois. The 204 jobs that will be added are primarily in the manufacturing branch, but also include production support, professional staffing and engineers.

“Andrew is pleased that the support of the state and various local officials has enabled us to keep our satellite communications manufacturing operations here in North Carolina,” Jude Panetta, president of the satellite communications group at Andrew, said in a statement.