RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Three business reasons — quicker, closer and custom — prompted computer maker Lenovo Group to open its first U.S. manufacturing operation in North Carolina instead of low-cost foreign locations like Mexico or China, its North American president said.

Lenovo expects to finish hiring 115 production workers by the end of the month at the manufacturing operation that opened in January inside an existing distribution center in the Guilford County community of Whitsett. The company on Wednesday celebrated the U.S. production line — small compared to its sites elsewhere — with visiting politicians including Gov. Pat McCrory.