Utili-Serve is putting down deeper roots in Conover, where the utility infrastructure company got its start in 2008. Governor Josh Stein announced that the company will invest more than $24.8 million to expand its headquarters in the small Catawba County city, building a 25,000-square-foot manufacturing facility and creating 105 new jobs that pay an average of $62,400 a year.
The investment, reported by Iredell Free News, will transform Utili-Serve's Conover headquarters from a company base into what the firm calls a regional hub for project management, manufacturing and logistics. The new facility will introduce field control and protective relay panel manufacturing on-site, according to the outlet's reporting. Utili-Serve provides substation construction and maintenance, transformer and apparatus services, protective relay panel manufacturing, and general construction work, and it operates 30 specialized construction crews across the southeastern United States supporting utility-scale grid projects along the East Coast.
“Conover is our home,” said Ben Dietrich, president of Utili-Serve, per the same reporting. “Since 2008, we have connected North Carolina and the Southeastern United States to power.” Dietrich added that the company is “committed to supporting energy partners, investing locally, expanding capabilities, and creating opportunities as grid demand grows.”
A Hometown Company Scales Up
Utili-Serve has completed more than 10,000 substation projects since its founding and maintains a fleet exceeding 470 units of company-owned heavy equipment, according to Business North Carolina. The company currently employs more than 360 workers across its operations, with regional offices in Raleigh and Greenville, South Carolina, in addition to its Conover headquarters, the outlet's report notes.
Governor Stein framed the expansion as part of a larger pattern of companies betting on the state. “Companies like Utili-Serve are doubling down on their investments in North Carolina because we have the ingredients for businesses to succeed and grow,” Stein said, adding that the expansion “strengthens North Carolina's position as a national leader in advanced manufacturing, infrastructure development, and innovation.”
The 105 Catawba County positions are part of a broader plan to create at least 150 jobs over three years while supporting projects from Virginia to Florida, according to WHKY. New engineering and panel assembly roles will carry varying wages, but the projected $62,400 average represents close to a 10 percent premium over Catawba County's current average annual wage of $56,937. State officials project the new positions could generate nearly $6.6 million in annual payroll impact for the region.
Public Hearings Will Decide Local Match
The expansion hinges on a state incentive structure that requires local buy-in before any money changes hands. North Carolina's One NC Fund awarded Utili-Serve a performance-based grant of $250,000, but the fund operates on a reimbursement model: companies must hit specific job creation and capital investment targets and secure local matching funds before receiving a dollar, Business North Carolina reports.
Catawba County residents will get a direct look at the proposed municipal match soon. Public hearings on local economic development incentives for the project are scheduled for November 2 before both the Catawba County Board of Commissioners and the Conover City Council, per WHKY's reporting.
The expansion will add manufacturing capacity for the electric utility sector.
Part of a Bigger Piedmont Investment Wave
Utili-Serve's announcement landed one day after Governor Stein revealed a separate $95 million manufacturing expansion in neighboring Iredell County by defense contractor Corvid Technologies, a project expected to create 423 jobs averaging $81,550 a year, according to WFAE. Both expansions relied on state performance-based incentive grants, underscoring a broader trend of advanced manufacturing investment across the western Piedmont region.
Workforce training is also part of the equation. Catawba Valley Community College has been designated an educational partner in the expansion, supporting local industrial employers through its Corporate Development Center and Manufacturing Solutions Center, which provide customized technical training and employee upskilling for area manufacturers.
Beyond Catawba Valley Community College, Utili-Serve's project also lists the North Carolina Department of Commerce, the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina, the North Carolina General Assembly, Commerce's Division of Workforce Solutions, the North Carolina Community College System, Duke Energy, Catawba County, the City of Conover, and the Catawba County Economic Development Corporation among its key partners.
Conover, an 11.2-square-mile city of roughly 8,500 to 8,800 residents near the center of Catawba County along the Interstate 40 corridor between Hickory and Newton, is part of the Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton metro area. The city has drawn Hoodline's attention this year for a range of local stories, and the Utili-Serve expansion marks a notably different kind of headline for the small municipality as it positions itself for a new round of industrial growth.
