New Factories in North Carolina: 2026 Project Tracker
Every large plant being built or expanded in North Carolina, $1 billion and up, with company, status, investment and jobs. Checked against sources and updated monthly.
Staffing a new plant?North Carolina has more large factory projects on our map than any other state right now. Most are drug and biotech plants around Raleigh and Durham, alongside Toyota’s battery plant in Liberty, Wolfspeed’s silicon carbide plant in Siler City and JetZero’s planned aircraft factory in Greensboro. Our tracker counts 11 active projects in North Carolina with $40.3B in announced investment, which ranks North Carolina first by number of projects.
Every row links to the press release, state announcement or news report its figures come from. This page is part of our US new factory construction map.
New factory projects in North Carolina
Every active plant project of $1 billion or more in North Carolina on our tracker, largest first.
| Project | Company | Sector | Location | Status | Investment | Permanent jobs | Expected | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Toyota Battery North Carolina | Toyota | Batteries | Liberty, NC | Producing | $13.9B | 5,100 | – | Source (2025-11-12) |
| Wolfspeed JP silicon carbide plant | Wolfspeed | Semiconductors | Siler City, NC | Producing | $5B | 1,800 | – | Source (2025-06-12) |
| JetZero blended wing aircraft factory | JetZero | Aerospace and defense | Greensboro, NC | Announced | $4.7B | 14,500 | – | Source (2025-06-12) |
| Novo Nordisk Clayton fill-finish plant | Novo Nordisk | Pharma and biotech | Clayton, NC | Under construction | $4.1B | 1,000 | 2027 | Source (2024-06-25) |
| Fujifilm Diosynth Holly Springs biologics plant | Fujifilm Diosynth | Pharma and biotech | Holly Springs, NC | Producing | $3.2B | 1,400 | – | Source (2025-09-25) |
| Eli Lilly Concord injectables plant | Eli Lilly | Pharma and biotech | Concord, NC | Producing | $2B | 600 | – | Source (2025-06-10) |
| Johnson & Johnson Wilson biologics plant | Johnson & Johnson | Pharma and biotech | Wilson, NC | Under construction | $2B | 420 | – | Source (2024-10-03) |
| Genentech Holly Springs plant | Genentech | Pharma and biotech | Holly Springs, NC | Under construction | $2B | 500 | 2029 | Source (2026-08-19) |
| AbbVie Durham manufacturing campus | AbbVie | Pharma and biotech | Durham, NC | Announced | $1.4B | 734 | 2028 | Source (2026-04-22) |
| Amgen Holly Springs second drug substance plant | Amgen | Pharma and biotech | Holly Springs, NC | Under construction | $1B | 370 | – | Source (2024-12-05) |
| Merck Durham vaccine plant | Merck | Pharma and biotech | Durham, NC | Producing | $1B | – | – | Source (2025-03-11) |
– means the source does not state a figure; we do not estimate. Expected is the first year of production. Last updated October 2026. See North Carolina on the full US map.
Paused or cancelled projects
| Project | Company | Sector | Location | Status | Investment | Permanent jobs | Expected | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| VinFast North Carolina plant | VinFast | Vehicles | Moncure, NC | Paused | $4B | 1,400 | 2028 | Source (2026-05-21) |
| Natron sodium-ion battery gigafactory | Natron Energy | Batteries | Kingsboro, NC | Cancelled | $1.4B | 1,000 | – | Source (2025-09-04) |
New factory investment by county
| County | Towns | Projects | Announced investment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Randolph | Liberty | 1 | $13.9B |
| Wake | Holly Springs | 3 | $6.2B |
| Chatham | Siler City | 1 | $5B |
| Guilford | Greensboro | 1 | $4.7B |
| Johnston | Clayton | 1 | $4.1B |
| Durham | Durham | 2 | $2.4B |
| Cabarrus | Concord | 1 | $2B |
| Wilson | Wilson | 1 | $2B |
New factory investment in North Carolina by sector
| Sector | Active projects | Announced investment | Permanent jobs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pharma and biotech | 8 | $16.7B | 5,024 |
| Batteries | 1 | $13.9B | 5,100 |
| Semiconductors | 1 | $5B | 1,800 |
| Aerospace and defense | 1 | $4.7B | 14,500 |
What stands out in North Carolina
- The Triangle is a drug manufacturing hub. Novo Nordisk in Clayton, Genentech, Fujifilm and Amgen in Holly Springs, Johnson & Johnson in Wilson, and Merck and AbbVie in Durham are all on the map.
- Toyota’s battery plant is the biggest single investment. The Liberty plant is a $13.9 billion project with 5,100 announced jobs.
- Some big projects have stalled. VinFast’s Chatham County plant is paused and the state has sued to take back the site, and Natron’s battery plant in Edgecombe County was cancelled when the company shut down.
Hiring for new plants in North Carolina
North Carolina’s drug, battery and chip plants all need process, validation, quality, automation and maintenance engineers, and many are hiring in the same Raleigh-Durham labor market. See where that talent lives in our industrial and manufacturing engineer talent maps for Raleigh and Charlotte, and our Raleigh and Charlotte engineering recruiting pages.
Each new plant hires in two waves: project, construction, electrical, mechanical and controls engineers while it is being built, then manufacturing engineers, process, quality and maintenance engineers in the year before production starts. Our guide on how to hire a manufacturing engineer covers role types, pay and interview questions.
Staffing a new plant in North Carolina?
Apollo Technical has recruited engineers and technical staff since 2010, including for plant start-ups and expansions. Tell us what you’re hiring for and a recruiter will get back to you within one business day.
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New factories in North Carolina FAQ
How many new factories are being built in North Carolina?
Our tracker counts 11 active projects of $1 billion or more in North Carolina, 4 of them under construction, with 26,424 announced permanent jobs. Smaller plants under $1 billion are not included.
What are the biggest new factories in North Carolina?
Toyota’s battery plant in Liberty is the largest investment on the map, followed by Wolfspeed in Siler City, JetZero in Greensboro and Novo Nordisk in Clayton. The table above lists every North Carolina project of $1 billion or more.
Why are so many drug plants being built in North Carolina?
The Research Triangle already has a large life sciences workforce and supplier base, and several drugmakers expanded there as they moved more production to the US in 2025 and 2026.
How often is this page updated?
Monthly, along with the US new factory construction map. Last updated October 2026.