US Conec is investing nearly $150 million to expand its Hickory operations, a project expected to create 224 new jobs in Catawba County by the end of 2030. The optical-connectivity manufacturer, already a major local employer, says the buildout is tied directly to surging demand from the artificial intelligence data center boom reshaping its industry.
According to the Charlotte Observer, US Conec has pledged to invest nearly $150 million to build a 200,000-square-foot advanced manufacturing plant in Hickory, with the new facility housing research and development, administrative operations and distribution alongside production lines. Business North Carolina reports the company is currently building a 221,000-square-foot industrial building at the Catawba Commerce Center, a figure that differs from the 200,000-square-foot description circulating elsewhere — a discrepancy that has not been resolved in public materials. The outlet also notes US Conec currently employs about 300 workers locally, meaning the planned 224 hires would represent a substantial expansion of its existing workforce.
What the New Jobs Will Look Like
The roles created by the expansion will span engineering, technology, operations and support staff, per the Charlotte Observer's reporting. Business North Carolina specifies that new positions will include engineers, operators, technicians and support staff, suggesting a mix of skilled production and technical work rather than purely entry-level manufacturing jobs.
Average annual wages for the new positions are projected at $56,982, according to the same outlet's reporting — a figure described as similar to Catawba County's current average annual wage of $56,937. That comparison suggests the expansion will largely track existing local pay levels rather than dramatically lifting them.
A State Grant With Strings Attached
The project is also set to draw support from a $500,000 performance-based grant through the One North Carolina Fund, per the Charlotte Observer. That grant requires matching funds from local government partners and mandates that US Conec meet job-creation and investment targets before any money is disbursed, the same reporting indicates. The state's commerce department describes the One North Carolina Fund broadly as a discretionary cash-grant program that lets the governor respond to competitive job-creation projects, according to the North Carolina Department of Commerce.
US Conec is also moving forward with a separate 40,000-square-foot building in Fairgrove Business Park and a new company headquarters in downtown Hickory, Business North Carolina reports — signaling the Hickory expansion extends well beyond the single manufacturing plant at the center of this announcement.
Why AI Infrastructure Is Driving the Push
Company leadership has tied the expansion directly to demand from next-generation computing. Tracey Horton said in a statement, per the Charlotte Observer, that the expansion will enhance local capabilities to meet surging demand driven by deployments of advanced computing infrastructure. Business North Carolina similarly reports that the company's president said the expansion will help meet growing demand driven by deployments of advanced computing infrastructure.
US Conec, headquartered in Hickory, designs and manufactures components for advanced computing infrastructure, enterprise and telecommunications networks, and military applications, according to the Charlotte Observer. The company is an equity venture of Corning Optical Communications, Fujikura and NTT-AT, according to the company's own materials. US Conec officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment, per the Charlotte Observer.
Part of a Broader North Carolina Buildout
US Conec's expansion lands amid a wave of optical-technology investment across the state tied to AI infrastructure. Corning and Meta marked the start of construction this year on an expansion of Corning's optical cable manufacturing capacity in Hickory, according to a Corning press release, describing the project as intended to support the buildout of advanced AI data centers using technology developed and manufactured in the United States. Meta will serve as the anchor customer for that Hickory expansion, which will produce optical cable critical to AI infrastructure, as part of a multiyear agreement valued at up to $6 billion, Corning says.
Corning separately announced this week it will invest $585 million at its Wilmington campus and add 414 jobs over the next five years, with those positions expected to pay an average salary of more than $85,000 a year, according to WECT. The station reports that expansion will add more than $35 million in annual payroll for the Wilmington region. Elsewhere in the state, Prysmian's Claremont facility expansion was described by the North Carolina Department of Commerce as a $1 billion project adding 385 jobs, with a potential payroll impact of more than $23.4 million annually for the region.
Together, the projects point to North Carolina's Catawba region becoming a hub for the optical-connectivity hardware underpinning the country's AI data center expansion — with US Conec's $150 million bet representing one of the latest and most direct links between a hometown manufacturer and that broader technology race.
