Governor Josh Stein announced that Prysmian, a global provider of energy and digital connection solutions, will invest more than $1 billion to expand its fiber and glass manufacturing operations in Claremont, creating 385 new jobs in Catawba County. The announcement marks what officials are calling the largest manufacturing project in the county's history, with construction set to begin in mid-September and full completion targeted for 2030.
According to Governor Josh Stein, the expansion breaks down into two major pieces on the Claremont campus: $1.02 billion for a new fiber operations plant that will bring 300 jobs, and $48 million for a cable operations plant adding another 85 positions, according to the North Carolina Department of Commerce. Together, the new buildings will expand the campus footprint by roughly 975,000 square feet and are expected to double the site's overall fiber optic manufacturing capacity. Per WHKY, the timeline calls for groundbreaking in mid-September 2026, with the full project wrapping up in 2030.
Wages Outpace the County Average
The 385 new positions will pay an average annual salary of $60,870, which is above Catawba County's average annual wage of $56,937, per the state commerce department. That wage gap is expected to translate into an estimated $23.4 million in additional annual payroll flowing through the regional economy. The state's announcement frames the pay premium as evidence that Catawba County's manufacturing sector continues to expand rapidly, building on a run of major industrial investments in the region.
To help offset the cost, North Carolina awarded Prysmian a performance-based $1 million grant from the One North Carolina Fund. That money comes with strings attached: it requires matching participation from local government, and state officials note that Prysmian must hit a minimum private investment target of $665 million before any grant payments are released. OneNC grants are structured so that public funds only flow after a company delivers on its investment and hiring commitments.
Part of a Bigger National Fiber Push
The Claremont buildout is the anchor of a much larger $1.25 billion expansion across Prysmian's U.S. footprint, according to Fierce Network. The company is also spending $100 million to double capacity at a plant in Jackson, Tennessee, adding 100 jobs there, and $80 million in Lexington, South Carolina, for 136 additional positions. North Carolina's share works out to more than 80 percent of the total multi-state capital allocation, underscoring just how central Claremont has become to Prysmian's American strategy.
Behind the spending spree is a massive commercial deal: an up to €5.5 billion, roughly $6.29 billion, 10-year contract Prysmian signed in July 2026 with Molex, a subsidiary of Koch Inc., to supply optical fiber cables for data centers, as reported by ACCESS Newswire. Surging demand tied to artificial intelligence data center infrastructure is driving fiber manufacturers nationwide to expand capacity, and Claremont sits at the center of that response.
North Carolina's Fiber Manufacturing Hub
Prysmian is one of just three domestic manufacturers of optical fiber and optical cables in the United States, alongside Corning and CommScope, and all three maintain production facilities in North Carolina, according to Fierce Network. That concentration has been building for a while: Hoodline previously reported that Corning announced a $267.9 million expansion in nearby Hickory back in October 2025, adding 132 manufacturing jobs and cementing Catawba County's status as a regional telecommunications hub.
Claremont itself is no stranger to growth. Prysmian previously invested $85 million there in August 2021 to add 70 jobs, expanding a site that Prysmian says is North America's only facility co-locating optical fiber manufacturing, cable production, and a dedicated research and development center. That earlier project pushed the campus to roughly 620 employees.
Meeting Federal Domestic Sourcing Rules
A key piece of the new investment involves glass, not just fiber. By building a new glass manufacturing facility in Claremont, Prysmian will vertically integrate its preform glass production, which helps the company meet federal Build America, Buy America rules governing domestic fiber supply for government-funded broadband projects. Federal programs such as BEAD impose strict domestic sourcing requirements, and having glass preform production on-site in Claremont positions Prysmian to compete for that federally backed work.
Open questions remain around the project's local rollout. Details on municipal tax incentives beyond the state's $1 million OneNC grant, workforce pipeline partnerships with regional community colleges, and the environmental permits the 975,000-square-foot expansion will need before its mid-September groundbreaking have not yet been reported.
