|
|
|
Above: Two workers at NHK Seating's new Frankfort, Indiana plant, which has begun hiring and plans to add 100 workers over the next several years. Source: NHK Seating
Demand for U.S. manufactured goods continues to accelerate, with manufacturing activity in its twelfth straight month of expansion. Demand is on the rise and more industrial buyers looking for supplies closer to home.
In June we saw a number of new companies announced, representing billions in investments across diverse sectors from biotech and food processing to 3D printing and solar. This article will explore some of the major new manufacturing plants announced in June.
In Missouri, Swift Prepared Foods celebrated the grand opening of their new $68 million manufacturing plant in Moberly. The new plant will produce fully cooked, ready-to-eat bacon and will create 200 jobs for the region.
“"This is a great day for Swift Prepared Foods, and we are proud to call Missouri home as we continue to grow our company and create opportunity for our team members," said Tom Lopez, President and Chief Operating Officer, Swift Prepared Foods. "This milestone marks our entrance into the region, and we look forward to making Moberly an even better place to live and work."
Missouri is a major hub for food processing plants, with food processing companies accounting for 15% of the state’s manufacturing workforce, according to MNI.
Wholestone Farms also announced this month it would be establishing a new pork-processing facility in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The company will invest more than $500 million to establish the new facility, which will initially employ 11,000.
Global vaccine producer Sanofi Pasteur announced plans to establish a new influenza vaccine manufacturing plant in Swiftwater, Pennsylvania. The new plant will create 200 new jobs for the expansion of the company’s Fluzone High-Dose Quadrivalent vaccine, which is given to those 65 and older.
And in Waltham, Massachusetts, next-gen medical robotics company Vicarious Surgical, Inc. announced it has established a new corporate headquarters for the expansion of its core business functions. The new site will employ 250. Vicarious Surgical develops human-like surgical robots and combines this with immersive reality to allow surgeons to perform minimally invasive surgery.
Pharmaceutical manufacturer MedPharm announced the opening of its new state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Durham, North Carolina, expanding the company’s CDMO services in semi-solid and liquid manufacturing. The new plant will be built within miles of MedPharm’s Center of Excellence for Performing Testing.
Meanwhile, in Illinois, Westfall Technik Inc. is boosting its clean-room capabilities with the establishment of a new 40,000 square-foot facility in Antioch, which will serve the medical device industry. Westfall Technick is a plastic molding and tooling specialist based in Las Vegas. Westfall plans to make the Chicago-area facility a micromolding center of excellence with the installation of three M3 micromolding machines.
In South Carolina, interior construction company DIRTT Environmental Solutions announced the opening of a new manufacturing company in Rock Hill. The new facility will utilize the company’s proprietary software to design and manufacture customizable environments as demand for customizable interiors from businesses emerging from the pandemic rises. The company will invest $18.5 million in the new, 130,000-square foot facility.
Also in June, technology company First Solar, Inc. announced plants to invest $680 million in the company’s third solar manufacturing facility, which will be built in Lake Township, Ohio. The 1.8 million square-foot facility will create roughly 500 jobs and will produce enhanced thin film PV modules for the U.S. solar market. The additional capacity is expected to help meet increased domestic demand for solar components.
“We have said that we stand ready to support President Biden’s goal to transition America to a clean, energy-secure future, and our decision to more than double our US manufacturing capacity with this new facility is First Solar making good on that commitment,” said Mark Widmar, Chief Executive Officer of First Solar.
In good news for Indiana, NHK Seating, which announced plans more than a year ago to open a new facility in the state, has completed construction of its massive 300,000+ square-foot plant in Frankfort. The new plant, which will serve nearby Subaru of Indiana, is expected to create 100 jobs over the next four years.
In Philadelphia, Wabtech celebrated the opening of its new additive manufacturing facility at Neighborhood 91 in the Pittsburgh International Airport. The new 11,000 square-foot facility is expected to help drive innovation in the rail industry and will produce large scale, state-of-the-art parts for the rail industry such as brake parts and heat sinks, reducing lead time by roughly 80%. The company aims to produce over 25,000 parts by 2025.
Ashley Furniture Industries unveiled plans this month to open a new upholstery plant in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin. The new facility will employ 200 workers and encompass 127,000 square feet. Ashley Furniture is the world’s largest furniture manufacturing company, selling its furniture in 20,000 storefronts in 155 countries around the world.
If you’re looking for industrial sales leads for a particular industry, region, company size, and more, consider an IndustrySelect subscription. IndustrySelect gives you live access to MNI’s database of 460,000 industrial companies and one million executives, providing up to 30 data points to help you identify and pre-qualify the best leads. Click here to start your free demo!
Missed last month? Read New U.S. Manufacturing Plants Announced In May 2021. Or check out our 2020 roundup: 2020 in Review: The Year in New Manufacturing Plants.
Follow IndustrySelect on Google News