Ft Worth Times

Business Facilities, a leading publication for corporate site selectors, recognizes economic development organizations for their work in securing significant corporate relocation, expansion or retention projects through their Deal of the Year Awards. This year, the new Siemens manufacturing facility in Fort Worth was recognized by Business Facilities editors by awarding it a 2023 Impact Award for Advanced Manufacturing.

Why it matters: Now in its third year, these awards showcase corporate relocation and expansion investments that have or will have a significant impact on the communities in which they are located. Economic development organizations submitted entries for projects announced or taking place between September 2022 through 2023.

What they’re saying: “This year’s Deal of the Year winners represent billions of dollars in capital investment and thousands of jobs for the communities where these companies have chosen to establish operations or to expand on their success,” said Anne Cosgrove, Business Facilities editorial director. “The significance of these investments will be seen for years to come. We congratulate the economic development teams that worked to bring these projects to fruition.”

“In the last decade, digital technologies transformed our personal lives and the consumer world. This investment tells us that this is the moment for industry and infrastructure, as the backbone of America’s economy is brought online and billions of things are connected," said Barbara Humpton, CEO of Siemens USA. "In making this new plant a reality, we'll create hundreds of high-skilled manufacturing jobs in the region while also modeling the path forward for American manufacturers focused on meeting rising demand for high-tech products and increasing sustainability."

“We’re excited to congratulate Siemens on this 2023 Impact Award, and we appreciate their partnership over the past several months as work gets underway on their new Fort Worth facility,” said Robert Sturns, director of economic development for the City of Fort Worth. “This manufacturing plant is not just transformative for our growing city through jobs and investment, but Siemens’ broader commitment to innovative, technology-driven products are pioneering the next generation of our country’s digital infrastructure.”

The big picture: In August, Siemens announced its investment in Fort Worth through the creation of a high-tech manufacturing plant. The state-of-the-art building will focus on the production of low-voltage switchgear and switchboards, supporting the increasing global demand for these essential industrial components that power energy-efficient data centers, digital twin technologies, and enable the exponential adoption of generative artificial intelligence.

• The Siemens facility in Fort Worth represents nearly 30% of the company’s $500 million investment in critical infrastructure manufacturing in the U.S. in 2023.

Go deeper: Fort Worth competed for this project as part of a national selection process. The city’s site and facilities offerings, access to labor, training resources and talent pipeline, established industry presence, supportive business environment, and various logistical advantages.

The Siemens facility reflects broader efforts by Fort Worth to actively recruit projects that support a reshoring of domestic manufacturing supply chains – for critical materials – which can benefit from Fort Worth’s geographic location and world-class logistics infrastructure. This strategic approach by the city has also coincided with the federal government’s prioritization and investment in similar initiatives across smart manufacturing technologies and high-performance computing.

Additionally, the Siemens facility adds to the momentum of Fort Worth’s long-established and quickly-evolving manufacturing cluster, which is driving toward more advanced manufacturing processes and products while leveraging (and adding to) the region’s abundant technical and engineering workforce. Fort Worth’s manufacturing industry produced more than $12 billion of the city’s total gross regional product in 2023, according to data from Lightcast – leading to a significant number of local employees with skillsets in highly-specialized, technology-focused manufacturing positions like those required by Siemens.

Original source can be found here.