$20 Million Prysmian Expansion to Create 50 New Jobs

For Immediate Release

For more information contact:
Nathan Huret, Director, Existing Industry Services
Catawba County Economic Development Corporation
828-267-1564

CLAREMONT, NC – Prysmian Group, a global cable producer serving the energy and telecom industries, is expanding its manufacturing facility in Claremont, North Carolina.  The company’s $20 million investment is expected to create 50 new jobs over the next three years, with an average wage of approximately $47,000.  These new jobs will be a mix of hourly production workers, hourly technicians and salaried managers/engineers.

Prysmian’s expansion in Catawba County is facilitated in part by a $500,000 grant to the City of Claremont from the Building Reuse Program, under the Rural Development Division of the North Carolina Department of Commerce.  This grant will aid Prysmian in undertaking a significant renovation at their existing facility.  Local incentives will be based on job creation and an investment performance standard and will be considered in a public session by local governing boards.

Prysmian’s expansion will continue to restore fiber optical operations that were previously discontinued in 2003.  The project builds from a pilot phase that was successfully completed in 2015, with new state-of-the-art preform and fiber drawing operations and will reach full capability within three years.  The new equipment is expected to provide supply chain advantages and improved quality control for the Catawba County operation due to less reliance on external suppliers of preform assemblies.

“We are extremely excited to announce the expansion of our world-class optical fiber operation in Claremont,” said Steve Linden, Industrial Director, Prysmian Group.  “This investment represents continued confidence in Prysmian’s Claremont team of highly-skilled employees and allows them to build on a string of recent successes.  The team, along with ongoing support from the city, county and state government entities all played significant roles in bringing this expansion to fruition.”

“This marks another significant win for our community.  We are extremely grateful Prysmian Group chose Catawba County for this expansion,” said Randy Isenhower, Chair of the Catawba County Board of Commissioners.  “For decades, Catawba County has held a leading global position within the telecommunications industry.  Prysmian, with its commitment of jobs and new technology, further bolsters our already strong argument within this growing sector.”

 “Winning this opportunity is truly a testament to Prysmian’s dedicated employees in Claremont and the wonderful partnership the City and company have had in place for decades.” said Mayor Shawn Brown, City of Claremont. “We hope there are many more opportunities to come.”

Hiring will begin immediately.  To apply for employment please contact the Catawba County office of the NC Works Career Center, 828-466-5535, located at 403 Conover Station SE, Conover, NC 28613, or apply online at www.ncworks.gov (Job Order # 10618779).

Prysmian Group (www.prysmiangroup.com) is world leader in the energy and telecom cables and systems industry. With more than 130 years of experience, sales of €7 billion in 2013, about 19,000 employees across 50 countries and 91 plants, the Group is strongly positioned in high-tech markets and offers the widest range of products, services, technologies and know-how. In the Energy sector, Prysmian Group operates in the business of underground and submarine power transmission cables and systems, special cables for applications in many different industrial sectors and medium and low voltage cables for the construction and infrastructure industry. In the Telecom sector, the Group manufactures cables and accessories for the voice, video and data transmission industry, offering a complete range of optical fibers, optical and copper cables and connectivity systems. Prysmian is a public company, listed on the Milan Stock Exchange in the FTSE MIB index. 

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SEE ADDITIONAL COVERAGE:

Company's $20 million expansion to create 50 new jobs (Hickory Daily Record)
New jobs coming to Catawba County due to expansion at Claremont Company (WHKY)
Catawba County cable plant to add 95 jobs in $20M expansion (Charlotte Business Journal)