Magnet Maker Building $1.2B Plant West of Charlotte

USA Rare Earth broke ground on a $1.2 billion magnet manufacturing facility in Blacksburg, South Carolina, 45 minutes west of Charlotte. The facility will create 490 jobs.

The magnets and refined metals produced in Blacksburg will support needs in the defense, aerospace, semiconductor, medical, AI, energy and advanced manufacturing industries. Blacksburg was selected for its power access, workforce and construction timeline. Duke Energy says it can accommodate the power needs.

The company plans to have the 800,000-square-foot facility’s shell built by 2027, with operations online in April 2028.

Trammell Crow is the project’s developer, with Clark Construction and Frampton Construction serving as general contractors. McMillan Pazdan Smith is the architect.

USA Rare Earth will lease its facility for a 20-year term. The company has two options to extend the lease — each for an additional 10 years.

This will be the company’s second manufacturing facility. It has an existing plant in Stillwater, Oklahoma.

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About Mike Boyd

Mike covers our Texas and Phoenix/Southwest regions. He is a veteran news reporter who spent 10 years in radio and television news, mostly in Tucson, Arizona. Following his career in the media, he spent ten years as a communications executive for a publicly traded development company. Mike is married with three boys and three Huskies.

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