Work has started on a new $500 million JCB factory in North America – the biggest-ever investment in the company’s history.
The 720,000 sq. ft factory is being built on a 400-acre site and will create 1,500 new jobs over five years.
It will be the company’s second largest plant, rivalled only by the manufacturer’s World HQ in Rocester, Staffordshire.
The factory will make Loadall telescopic handlers and aerial access equipment, with production scheduled to start in 2026. The factory will also have the capacity to expand into the manufacture of other products in the future.
The start of construction was signalled at an official ground-breaking ceremony at the site in San Antonio, Texas, where Alice Bamford, daughter of company Chairman Anthony Bamford, cut the first sod of earth.
Lord Bamford said: “Construction equipment manufacturers sell more than 300,000 machines every year in North America, making it the single largest market in the world.
“JCB has been growing its share of this important market steadily over the past few years and the time is now right to invest in our manufacturing capacity in North America, where we already have one factory.
“JCB really has come a considerable way since we sold our first machine here 60 years ago and it gives me immense pleasure to see how our business has grown in North America.”
Texas Governor Greg Abbott said: “Texas was this year named as The Best State for Business for a record-breaking 20th year, and I am proud to welcome JCB as the newest business to call our great state home.
“Today’s groundbreaking marks a major milestone in JCB’s journey that will create 1,500 good-paying jobs for hardworking Texans in Bexar County and bring hundreds of millions of new capital investment to San Antonio and beyond.”
JCB sold its first machine in North America in 1964 and opened its first manufacturing plant there in 2001 in Savannah, Georgia, which employs 1,000 people. The new facility will manufacture machines for customers specifically in North America.
JCB employs 19,000 people and has 22 factories around the world, including 11 in the UK, seven in India, and others in Brazil and China. The company will mark its 80th anniversary in 2025
