L3Harris to expand in Virginia

RICHMOND, VA – Governor Glenn Youngkin announced that L3Harris Technologies [NYSE:LHX] has selected Orange County for a key expansion to increase domestic production of solid rocket motors critical for national security. The majority of the $41.2 million investment will come from the cooperative agreement Aerojet Rocketdyne, an L3Harris company, signed with the Defense Department last year. The investment will upgrade capacity at the rocket propulsion manufacturer’s Orange County location, including new facilities, equipment and tools to increase solid rocket motor production. The expansion will create 80 new jobs over the next three years.

“Our country’s security depends on defense manufacturers like L3Harris, and we are proud that this long-term corporate partner continues to reinvest in Virginia,” said Governor Glenn Youngkin. “The Commonwealth’s vibrant industrial and technological ecosystem provides an ideal home for the booming aerospace industry, underpinned by a top-notch workforce pipeline that draws from thousands of service members who exit the armed services in Virginia every year and our excellent schools that ensure a steady flow of new talent.”

VEDP

Veteran-owned data sciences company to expand operation in Virginia

RICHMOND, VA – Governor Glenn Youngkin announced that JDSAT, Inc., a veteran-owned application development and data sciences firm, is investing $630,000 to expand its operations in Fairfax County. The company intends to invest in technical staff and analysts to support its growing artificial intelligence, cloud computing, and data science business. The project will create 60 new jobs.

“JDSAT, Inc., is a Virginia success story of a veteran coming home and starting his own company in one of the best business climates in the nation,” said Governor Glenn Youngkin. “This expansion in the artificial intelligence and data science sectors shows that the Commonwealth continues to grow in these rapidly evolving industries.”

“JDSAT’s decision to expand its operations in Fairfax County shows that Virginia is a strong, reliable business partner,” said Secretary of Commerce and Trade Caren Merrick. “The Commonwealth is a top state for tech talent that offers the location, infrastructure, and robust workforce that attract companies like JDSAT, and I congratulate all the partners involved on this expansion.”

VEDP

Google making $1 billion investment in Virginia. Here’s where.

Google will invest $1 billion to improve its two data center campuses in Loudoun County and a newly opened center in Prince William County.

The Alphabet-owned tech giant (NASDAQ: GOOGL) made the announcement Friday during an event at its Reston Station office with Gov. Glenn Youngkin.

The company did not provide details about where it planned to spend the money, which would bring Google’s total investment in the state to $4.2 billion, but indicated it would go toward “technical infrastructure” supporting the company’s AI and cloud efforts.

The company operates two data centers in Loudoun, one near Arcola and the other near Leesburg. It also has a recently opened data center on Rollins Ford Road in Prince William.

It is also is in the early stages of developing a 181-acre data center campus on the site of a former military facility in Bristow in Prince William. There is no timeline for that facility, to be located at 6201 Wellington Road near Jiffy Lube Live, but it will allow for future growth.

Google did not say if it received any subsidies from the state for investment. It does benefit from Virginia’s data center tax incentives, like many data center developers and tenants.

Washington Business Journal

Second Ford BlueOval City supplier to create 500 jobs, invest $54 million in West Tennessee

A second on-site BlueOval City supplier has announced the scale of its facilities.

Avancez Assembly, a Michigan-based and woman-owned auto supplier, plans to invest $54 million to create a BlueOval City Supply Park facility. That production plant is set to create 501 jobs. The company specializes in providing complex modular assembly, sequencing, and other supply chain operations for automotive original equipment manufacturers (OEMs).

“We’re thrilled to join Ford’s BlueOval City campus as we make a lasting commitment to Tennessee. We look forward to creating amazing development opportunities with the exceptional people of Haywood County,” said Kathryn Nichols, CEO of Avancez, in a news release. “In partnership with Ford, we’re poised to forge relationships and build a better future for team members, families, and friends alike.”

Avancez is the latest on-site supplier to announce the size and scale of its facilities to support Ford Motor Co.’s Tennessee Electric Vehicle Center at BlueOval City.

Magna International announced two on-site facilities last year. Another supplier, Universal Logistics, has been revealed at Ford events in the past, but has yet to detail the size, scope, and purpose of a potential facility in West Tennessee.

The addition of Avancez’s projected jobs brings the total employment count at BlueOval City to 7,800, with three more supplier facilities upcoming. All six supplier facilities at BlueOval City are under construction, but not all suppliers have been revealed to date.

Memphis Business Journal

Clean energy company Boviet Solar plans $300M, 900-job factory in NC

An international clean energy company says it will invest hundreds of millions of dollars in a facility in eastern North Carolina. That plan calls for hundreds of new jobs.

The company, Boviet Solar of Vietnam, will spend nearly $300 million to establish a 1 million-square-foot facility in Greenville with 900 jobs. Incentives for the project were approved this morning during a meeting of the state’s Economic Investment Committee, part of the N.C. Commerce Department. The company is eligible for a Job Development Investment Grant (JDIG) worth more than $8 million.

Greenville beat out other finalist sites in Phoenix and Atlanta. The company told the state that average wages for the jobs will be around $53,000. The facility will be located at the Greenville Industrial Park.

This marks the largest jobs investment tied to state incentives in North Carolina so far this year.

Charlotte Business Journal

Texas’ upstream sector sees highest single-month job growth in 10 years

Texas’ upstream oil and natural gas sector gained 4,500 jobs in March – the highest single-month growth in upstream jobs reported in over a decade, according to newly released data from the Texas Workforce Commission.

The job additions, which bring total upstream employment in March to 196,500 workers, follow a record-breaking year for Texas’ oil and natural gas industry. Texas hit production records in six of 12 months in 2023, despite a declining rig count, the Texas Oil and Gas Association reports.

“March’s historic increase in jobs in the Texas oil and natural gas industry’s upstream sector is a result of this industry’s commitment to ensuring that American energy leadership’s home base continues to be in the Lone Star state,” TXOGA President Todd Staples said in an April 19 statement.

San Antonio Business Journal

Raytheon kicks off $115 million expansion at Alabama missile factory

The 26,000 square-foot expansion project will also bring an estimated 185 new jobs to Huntsville site, growing the employee footprint of Raytheon and its parent company RTX in Alabama to more than 2,200 people.

“This important investment in the Huntsville region will help us meet the growing needs of our military customers and service members,” Raytheon President Phil Jasper said.

“It will also ready our operations to accelerate delivery of our vital counter-hypersonic solution.”

MadeInAlabama.com