Dell's Winston-Salem manufacturing plant

WINSTON SALEM, NC – Dell Inc. has confirmed that it will keep its Winston-Salem manufacturing plant open until July.

The company originally planned to shutter the plant, which employs 500 workers, by January. It later extended the closing until April and now has confirmed to the Winston-Salem Journal that it will keep the plant humming until July.

Dell (Nasdaq: DELL) said a surge in global demand is the reason for the extension. The company laid off 4oo workers in November.

We’ve followed the hoopla over the Dell plant for years.

The plant opened in 2005, drawn to the region with large, controversial state and local incentives. A court challenge to the incentives, however, was rejected.

The company’s announcement that it would close the plant drew additional scrutiny and criticism of the large tax incentive plans North Carolina frequently uses to attract businesses to the state.

The company and the state disagreed over how much of the incentives granted the company would have to be repaid.