Dive Brief:
- The Dow Chemical Company has announced $4 billion of investments in the U.S. and Europe, bringing the total of the company's U.S. growth ventures over a 10-year period to $12 billion, according to the Houston Business Journal.
- The company will increase its manufacturing capacity in the Houston area, according to FuelFix, an initiative that is in addition to the $6 billion Gulf Coast expansion already underway. The company will also build a 600,000-metric-ton plastics plant either in Texas or Louisiana.
- Dow will also put $500 million toward its Michigan Dow Corning manufacturing business, as well as create an innovation center at its Midland, MI, headquarters.
Dive Insight:
The manufacturing sector of construction has received a boost from a few industries this year. Aluminum company Braidy Industries announced last month that it will build a $1.3 billion, 2.5 million-square-foot aluminum plant in eastern Kentucky, an investment the company indicated would not have happened without state lawmakers passing a law that bans the requirement that nonunion workers pay union dues. Company officials said that in three years, 20% of all U.S. automotive sheet aluminum will be made at the Kentucky facility.
In March, U.S. German candy manufacturer Haribo also announced a major investment, its first in North America. The company said it would build a $242 million gummy bear factory in Wisconsin, which will create an estimated 400 permanent jobs. The state did agree to provide Haribo with a benefits package, but it is conditioned upon job creation, worker training, capital investment and supply chain requirements.
South Korea–based LG Electronics is also opening a manufacturing operation in the U.S. — an 829,000-square-foot, $250 million washing machine factory in Clarksville, TN. The factory is expected to start production in 2019, and, similar to the Haribo deal, LG will receive incentives in exchange for providing infrastructure improvements, workforce training and jobs for military veterans.
