SALISBURY, N.C. (AP) — Electronics maker Jabil Inc. aims to create nearly 1,200 jobs in central North Carolina, spending $500 million to create a manufacturing facility that will support cloud computing and artificial intelligence data centers.
Gov. Josh Stein’s office and the company said the manufacturing operation will be in Rowan County, which is about 45 miles (72.4 kilometers) northeast of Charlotte.
The investment will be made over several years, with capital spending of $264 million and 1,181 jobs proposed by the end of 2030, according to a state document released Monday along with the plant’s planned location.
The Florida-based multinational company already has 30 locations in the U.S., including three in North Carolina that employ about 1,000 workers. The minimum average wages for the new jobs will be about $62,000, with opportunities for manufacturing and engineering professionals, state officials said.
“The drive to build AI data centers is only accelerating in the United States,” Matt Crowley, a Jabil executive vice president, said in a news release by Stein’s office. “We are excited to help meet that demand, provide additional scale and capabilities for our data center customers, and empower the AI solutions of the future.”
North Carolina competed with Florida to host the project, according to a document provided by the state Commerce Department.
The document said state and local incentives total more than $21 million, from which Jabil could receive cash payments of $11.3 million over 12 years if it meets investment and job-creation thresholds. The Job Development Investment Grant was approved Monday by a state incentives committee, Stein’s office said.