A Pentagon-backed Research Triangle Park startup could announce as soon as Tuesday plans for a major manufacturing plant in Johnston County — a deal that, if consummated, could make North Carolina a U.S. hub for rare-earth magnets.
RTP-based Vulcan Elements earlier this month announced a $1.4 billion deal with the federal government that would help the company meet its goal of producing up to 10,000 metric tons of Neodymium Iron Boron magnets over several years. The magnets are used in commercial products such as medical devices, electric vehicles, wind turbines, computer chips, and in defense applications such as fighter jets, nuclear submarines and satellites.
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People familiar with the effort told WRAL that the company has been considering an expansion that could create upwards of 1,000 jobs and an investment approaching $1 billion. The people spoke on the condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to discuss the negotiations.
There is no guarantee North Carolina will land the plant, the people said. Vulcan Chief Executive John Maslin told WRAL News this month that the company was engaged in a monthslong, multi-state hunt for expansion sites and that the company expected to make an announcement by the end of November.
A Vulcan spokesman on Monday declined to comment on the company’s plans.
The Johnston County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday morning is holding a special public hearing, where it could approve a proposed economic development agreement for an undisclosed manufacturer considering an expansion in Banner Township. The hearing would follow a meeting of the state Commerce Department’s Economic Investment Committee, which approves state incentives for companies with plans to expand in North Carolina. After the meetings, Gov. Josh Stein is scheduled to make an economic development announcement at an industrial property near the Johnston County town of Benson.
County economic development officials declined to identify the company or describe the project, which was described in a public hearing notice that also didn’t identify the company. David Rhoades, a spokesman for the state Department of Commerce, also declined to discuss the nature of the state’s meeting, adding that the state’s corporate recruiters frequently have discussions with companies about expansion plans. “We don’t comment on those discussions until the companies make a public announcement of their decision,” he said.
Other people familiar with the negotiations told WRAL News that Vulcan would be the subject of those discussions and the announcement.
Economic development deals are often kept secret, protected from the state’s open records laws to enable state and local governments to negotiate with companies and to allow companies to explore options before finalizing major decisions.
It’s common for state and local officials to coordinate the timing of economic development meetings around corporate announcements. Officials often vote on incentives ahead of major economic development announcements, and often on the same day. Public meetings intended to discuss incentives are typically scheduled only after a company has committed to a location.
Stein’s announcement is at the Crosspoint Logistics Center. The project identified in the county notice is proposing its expansion at Crosspoint, which is south of the nexus of Interstate 95 and I-40.
The state’s performance-based incentives packages are often reserved for companies that plan to create lots of jobs that pay above the county average. Grants are typically paid out if the company meets annual hiring and investment targets.
The county is considering a proposal that includes economic incentives in the form of annual cash grants over a 15-year period — to be paid only after job-creation and investment targets have been met, according to the county notice.
“The county believes this project will help stimulate the local economy, result in new taxable capital investments in real and personal property increasing the tax base, and cause the creation by the company of a substantial number of new, permanent jobs,” the county’s hearing announcement said.
Federal funding boost
The federal government’s interest in Vulcan is centered on its efforts to strengthen the nation’s domestic supply of rare-earth magnets.
The U.S. Department of Commerce said Nov. 3 that it struck a preliminary agreement to receive a $50 million equity stake in Vulcan. The company’s expansion would be financed in part by a $620 million direct loan from the Pentagon’s Office of Strategic Capital, $50 million of federal incentives from the Department of Commerce under the CHIPS and Science Act, and $550 million in private capital, the company said. Indiana-based ReElement Technologies would also expand its recycling and processing capabilities under the deal, with help from an $80 million direct loan from the Pentagon, matched by private capital.
The planned federal incentives for Vulcan would fund equipment used for the domestic production of its magnets. ReElement Technologies processes end-of-life magnets, electronic waste, and mined concentrates into high-purity rare earth oxides.
“We know that here in the United States, we need resilient, secure supply chains, both for national security, but also for economic resilience,” Maslin, the Vulcan CEO, told WRAL News in an interview after the deal was struck with the federal government. “If we want to win the AI race, these go in data centers, if we want to build out drones for agriculture, consumer delivery, if we want to lead the robotics revolution, if we want to build cars in this country, we need to make sure that we have capacity of critical components here in the US.
Vulcan Elements’ magnets have already been delivered to customers in the defense and technology sectors. Vulcan and ReElement have worked together to help strengthen domestic supply of rare-earth magnets to build security around some of the nation’s most important sectors, executives said.
“Our investment in Vulcan Elements will accelerate U.S. production of rare earth magnets for American manufacturers,” U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick said in a statement after the federal financing deal was struck earlier this month. “We are laser-focused on bringing critical mineral and rare earth manufacturing back home, ensuring America’s supply chain is strong, secure and perfectly reliable.”
WRAL State Government Reporter Will Doran contributed to this report.
