SALISBURY — Electronics manufacturer Jabil Inc. plans to create nearly 1,200 jobs in central North Carolina, investing $500 million in a new facility that will support the growing demand for cloud computing and artificial intelligence data centers.
Gov. Josh Stein’s office and the company announced the new manufacturing operation will be located in Rowan County, about 45 miles northeast of Charlotte. The investment will roll out over several years, with $264 million in capital spending and 1,181 jobs projected by the end of 2030, according to a state document released Monday.
The Florida-based multinational company already operates 30 sites across the United States, including three in North Carolina employing roughly 1,000 people. The new jobs will offer minimum average wages of about $62,000 and will include roles for both manufacturing and engineering professionals, state officials said.
“The drive to build AI data centers is only accelerating in the United States,” said Matt Crowley, a Jabil executive vice president, in a news release shared 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 secure the project. According to the state Commerce Department, Jabil selected Rowan County for its strategic location and support from state and local government.
As part of the incentive package, Jabil could receive cash payments totaling up to $11.3 million over 12 years through North Carolina’s Job Development Investment Grant (JDIG) program, assuming it meets required investment and job creation goals. The total incentive package from state and local sources exceeds $21 million.
The JDIG award was approved last Monday by the state’s Economic Investment Committee, further cementing the state’s push to attract tech-focused manufacturing operations that align with national trends in data infrastructure and AI development.
Jabil’s project marks one of the largest recent job announcements in the region and reflects a broader push to position North Carolina as a hub for next-generation technologies. The Rowan County facility is expected to play a key role in expanding domestic manufacturing capacity for critical digital infrastructure.
Construction timelines and hiring details were not immediately released, but state and company officials expect the project to unfold in phases through the remainder of the decade.
