Executives with Schneider Electric and Deere & Co. will invest tens of millions of dollars to expand factories in Kentucky, Nebraska and Louisiana—with Deere’s move shifting some production work to the United States from China.
Schneider will put to work a total of $46 million at plants making circuit breakers and other electrical output products in Lexington, Kentucky, and Lincoln, Nebraska. The investments will include new equipment and machinery that will be more automated and technologically connected than the plants, which are 65 years and 50 years old, respectively, are today.
“To keep pace with the near and long-term demand for our products and to plan for the future, we must invest in our supply chain capabilities,” said Ken Engel, senior vice president of Schneider supply chain team for North America. “Our duty always, and particularly in the context of the current economic and energy environment, is to serve the needs of our customers and partners across our manufacturing and distribution network.”
Schneider employs about 128,000 people around the world and makes a wide range of electrical, automation and energy management products. The company last year said it was embarking on a strategy of shortening its supply chains via a series of North American investments totaling more than $100 million and adding capacity in Texas and Mexico that will in the coming year result in the hiring of more than 1,300 workers. The Lexington and Lincoln projects are adding to that dollar figure but a company spokesman did not respond to questions about the jobs impact of this round of work.
Deere’s Louisiana plans call for the maker of agricultural and construction equipment to invest nearly $30 million to grow its operation in Thibodaux, west of New Orleans. That facility today designs sugar harvesting and earthmoving equipment and makes a range of products but will grow in the next two years to also produce medium-chassis cotton harvesters now being built in China.
The plan, which has received state incentives that include a grant of up to $1 million, will grow the Thibodaux facility’s workforce by 70 to more than 350. Louisiana officials said they expect the project to also create 110 new indirect jobs.
“The new cotton harvesters present a huge opportunity for John Deere Thibodaux to deliver innovative and technologically advanced solutions to our customers,” said Mike Duplantis, factory manager at Thibodaux plant. “This expansion is possible due to the tremendous amount of hard work and resiliency of the Thibodaux team.”
These investments will add to a massive wave of reshoring projects that are growing the manufacturing base in all parts of the United States as well as areas of Mexico and Canada. A spring poll of more than 1,600 executives by global conglomerate ABB showed that 70% of companies are planning to invest in new production capacity close to home. The Reshoring Initiative reported that investments last year climbed 46% to a record and forecast that 2022 will shatter that mark.
