KEY POINTS
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Nucor plans to add more than 120,000 square feet of manufacturing space at its Crawfordsville, Indiana, facility.
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The $105 million expansion is expected to create 100 jobs with average annual wages of $87,500.
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The project will increase production of utility poles and related products used in power transmission and distribution infrastructure.
Nucor Corp. plans to expand its utility towers and structures facility in Crawfordsville, Indiana, with a $105 million investment aimed at increasing production capacity for the nation’s electric grid.
What is the Nucor Crawfordsville Facility Expansion
The expansion, announced Oct. 8, remains pending regulatory and other approvals. It will add more than 120,000 square feet of manufacturing space, along with automated systems, new production equipment and other manufacturing technologies, according to Nucor’s announcement.
The project is expected to create 100 jobs with average annual wages of $87,500. Nucor’s Crawfordsville facility currently employs 328 people.
“The expansion of our Indiana facility reflects the strong demand we are seeing in the utility market,” Leon Topalian, Nucor’s chair and chief executive officer, said in the announcement. He cited utility investment to modernize the electric grid and meet growing electricity demand as a driver of the project.
The additional capacity will support production of utility poles and related products used in power transmission and distribution infrastructure. Nucor said the expanded operations are intended to improve production capacity while supporting efficient, safe and high-quality manufacturing.
Manufacturing construction starts in the US are down 2.8% year-to-date through September, according to ConstructConnect Chief Economist Michael Guckes.
Broader Utility Structures Expansion
The Crawfordsville project adds to Nucor’s broader utility structures expansion. The company formed Nucor Towers & Structures in 2022 after acquiring Summit Utility Structures, which operated a production facility in Pennsylvania.
Nucor later built facilities in Alabama and Indiana and is constructing another facility in Utah.
Nucor employs approximately 2,600 people at more than a dozen locations across Indiana. Its Indiana operations include Nucor Steel Indiana, the company’s first sheet mill, which began production in 1989.
ConstructConnect: Power Infrastructure Construction Continues to Accelerate
The investment points to continued manufacturing demand tied to transmission, distribution and grid-modernization projects among surge in megaprojects and expected electricity demand.
ConstructConnect Associate Economist Devin Bell said, "Power Infrastructure construction continues to accelerate nationally. ConstructConnect forecasts a 30.1% increase in Power Infrastructure starts in 2027 compared to full-year 2026."
Bell mentioned that the increased power infrastructure construction, "has followed rapid data center construction, which continues to strain the electrical grid." [Read the ConstructConnect Data Center Report]
"Goldman Sachs Research forecasted in May of this year that U.S. data center electricity demand would double from 2025 to 2027, going from 31 GW to 66 GW", Bell added.
The Nucor release did not provide a construction schedule or expected completion date.
Nucor is a steel and steel products manufacturer with facilities in the United States, Canada and Mexico. Its products include carbon and alloy steel, structural tubing, electrical conduit, steel joists and girders, metal building systems, reinforcing steel, wire products and utility structures.
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