Governor Josh Stein announced that Jabil Inc., a company known for its work in engineering, supply chain, and manufacturing solutions, plans to create 1,181 new jobs in Rowan County. The firm will invest approximately $500 million over several years to establish a manufacturing facility aimed at supporting cloud and AI data center customers.
Governor Stein stated, “Companies that are already operating in North Carolina know the value of doing business in our state better than anyone. We welcome Jabil’s expansion, and we are committed to further developing the largest manufacturing workforce in the southeast and the business-friendly climate they need for this next phase of growth.”
Jabil is headquartered in St. Petersburg, Florida, with operations across more than 25 countries and employing 140,000 people globally. The company has three locations in North Carolina and serves various industries including AI data center infrastructure, healthcare, warehouse automation, and robotics.
Matt Crowley, Executive Vice President of Global Business Units at Jabil said, “The drive to build AI data centers is only accelerating in the United States. 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 with Jabil’s new facility here in Rowan County.”
Commerce Secretary Lee Lilley commented on North Carolina’s environment conducive to business growth: “North Carolina has a proven track record of cultivating an environment where companies like Jabil can manufacture innovative solutions for the global economy. Our ecosystem of workforce training partnerships, Tier 1 research, and growing supply chain is sure to ignite the advancement of this next generation technology and provide the company a great return on its investment.”
The creation of these new jobs could lead to an annual payroll impact exceeding $73.2 million for the region. The expansion will be supported by a Job Development Investment Grant (JDIG) approved by North Carolina’s Economic Investment Committee. Over 12 years, it is expected to grow the state’s economy by $3.2 billion.
Senator Carl Ford welcomed Jabil’s decision: “We welcome Jabil to Rowan County. These new jobs are proof that our state and local investments to prepare for announcements like this are paying off for both our existing industry and local economy.”
Representative Harry Warren also expressed enthusiasm: “This is outstanding news for our region. Our community is centrally located along to East Coast, and thanks to the state’s well-connected transportation network, Jabil can easily access the global market.”
Other partners involved include various state departments such as N.C. Commerce’s Division of Workforce Solutions and educational institutions like Rowan-Cabarrus Community College.
Since January 1st of this year alone, Governor Stein has announced projects amounting nearly $17 billion in capital investment within North Carolina creating over 19 thousand good-paying jobs.
To explore job opportunities at Jabil visit their careers site.
