North Carolina outduels Florida for AI manufacturing center expected to create 1,200 jobs
By Associated Press
July 1, 2025 at 1:39 PM EDT
North Carolina officials expect nearly 1,200 jobs to be created at the manufacturing operation. Jabil, which is based in St. Petersburg, selected the site over an unnamed Florida location.
St. Petesburg-based electronics maker Jabil Inc. has selected a North Carolina site over one in Florida for its $500 million cloud computing and artificial intelligence data center.
North Carolina officials expect nearly 1,200 jobs to be created at the manufacturing operation in Rowan County, about 45 miles northeast of Charlotte. The minimum average wage will be about $62,000, with opportunities for manufacturing and engineering professionals.
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.
A unnamed location in Florida was also offering the firm incentives, including tax exemptions, capital investment and training assistance to attract the facility, according to The Herald Sun in Durham.
Jabil's 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 Fortune 500 company, which already has 30 locations in the U.S., including three in North Carolina that employ about 1,000 workers.
“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 from 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."
The expansion is part of a plan to grow in the Southeast to support AI and cloud computing. The new location will focus on manufacturing data center hardware like liquid cooling enclosures and server racks, a growing market in North Carolina, state officials said.
Jabil moved from the Detroit area to St. Petersburg in 1982, with its headquarters on Roosevelt Boulevard in the city's Gateway Area.
North Carolina officials expect nearly 1,200 jobs to be created at the manufacturing operation in Rowan County, about 45 miles northeast of Charlotte. The minimum average wage will be about $62,000, with opportunities for manufacturing and engineering professionals.
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.
A unnamed location in Florida was also offering the firm incentives, including tax exemptions, capital investment and training assistance to attract the facility, according to The Herald Sun in Durham.
Jabil's 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 Fortune 500 company, which already has 30 locations in the U.S., including three in North Carolina that employ about 1,000 workers.
“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 from 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."
The expansion is part of a plan to grow in the Southeast to support AI and cloud computing. The new location will focus on manufacturing data center hardware like liquid cooling enclosures and server racks, a growing market in North Carolina, state officials said.
Jabil moved from the Detroit area to St. Petersburg in 1982, with its headquarters on Roosevelt Boulevard in the city's Gateway Area.