A Charlotte-area manufacturer is investing $1B to expand production capacity to supply equipment and components for the AI datacenter buildout boom.
Prysmian, an energy solutions and cable manufacturer based in Milan, Italy, broke ground on September 10, 2026, on a more than $1 billion expansion in Catawba County that will fundamentally reshape the region's manufacturing footprint. The investment at its Claremont campus will add nearly 1 million square feet of manufacturing space and create 385 new jobs, while more than doubling the company's U.S. fiber-optic production capacity. The site, located at 2512 Penny Road in Catawba County approximately 50 miles northwest of Charlotte, is expected to reach full operational status in 2030, with construction anticipated to take about 20 months.
The expansion reflects surging demand for fiber-optic infrastructure driven by the artificial intelligence data center boom. "We need to produce a lot of fiber," said Frederick Persson, executive vice president of digital solutions for Prysmian, during Thursday's groundbreaking event. "There's a big world out there all asking for fiber." The investment will include a new glass factory, additional space for research and development, and increased cable production capacity to serve data centers and digital infrastructure across North Carolina and the nation. Prysmian is also investing approximately $48 million specifically in optical cable manufacturing operations at the Claremont campus.
The expansion follows a $6.3 billion long-term supply agreement Prysmian signed in July with Molex, a Lisle, Illinois-based supplier of optical and copper products. "Under the agreement, Prysmian will supply Molex optical fiber and cable with capacity driven by AI data center growth," said Molex CEO Joe Nelligan. The scale of Prysmian's commitment underscores the intensity of regional demand. Prysmian North America CEO Andrea Pirondini highlighted the rapid acceleration of investment, noting that the company's local capital commitment jumped from $250 million in 2025 to $500 million this year and is projected to reach $1 billion over the next year—a roughly fourfold increase in just nine months.
Massimo Battaini, global CEO of Prysmian, reflected on the company's long-term conviction in the fiber sector. He noted that despite pressure from investors during volatile market periods, Prysmian maintained its commitment to innovation in fiber, cable, and connectivity, with acquisitions in the United States in 2011 and 2018 anchoring its growth trajectory. "A company where the passion, determination and our people really make a difference," Battaini said, emphasizing Prysmian's goal to serve as a comprehensive provider for data center solutions.
For Catawba County, the Claremont expansion represents the largest manufacturing investment in the region's history. Randy Isenhower, chairman of the Board of Commissioners, said the investment signals to other companies that the area is attractive for high-value manufacturing. "Other companies will see that a quality company like Prysmian has invested here, and they will invest," he noted. The expansion will strengthen the local tax base to support public services including schools and law enforcement while creating high-paying jobs in engineering, research, and quality control.
Claremont Mayor Shawn Brown, who grew up in the area, has watched the site evolve over four decades since its construction in 1982 until Prysmian acquired Dutch cable manufacturer Draka Holding in 2011. Beyond direct factory employment, the investment carries significant spillover benefits for local small businesses, restaurants, and retailers. The project also holds particular significance for regional recovery following Hurricane Helene. "This is huge not just for Claremont, but for all who see and are looking for something to hold on to as a light of hope as we continue to rebuild and recover in this area," said Reginald Speight, assistant secretary for rural economic development at the N.C. Department of Commerce.
The broader region has rapidly become what state officials have called "the fiber capital of the country," driven by the accelerating demand for data center infrastructure. In March, Corning Inc. broke ground on a facility following a January announcement of an agreement worth up to $6 billion with Meta, owner of Facebook and Instagram. Prysmian's customers and partners praised the expanded capacity. Tad Deriso, president and CEO of Virginia-based Mid-Atlantic Broadband Communities Corp., noted that fiber made in Claremont has already powered network connections spanning over 1 million fiber miles, connecting schools, local businesses, and hyperscale data centers from New England to the South.
The expansion also reflects growing international investment in North Carolina. Italian Ambassador to the U.S. Marco Peronaci, in a statement read by UNC Charlotte professor and Italian Honorary Consul Valentina Cecchi, noted that Italian companies support approximately 300,000 American jobs, with Prysmian's latest investment deepening shared economic ties.
Prysmian's Claremont facility operates an intricate fiber-optic manufacturing process. In a single 24-hour production run, the facility produces enough optical fiber to wrap around the Earth one and a half times. The process begins with ultra-pure silica mined nearby in Spruce Pine, which is fed through a high-temperature plasma torch—a process engineers compare to lightning striking beach sand—fusing it into large torpedo-shaped glass preforms. These preforms are then loaded into multi-story draw towers where they are heated and pulled down to 125 microns in diameter, roughly the width of a human hair, while maintaining uniform ratio between the internal core and outer cladding along the entire strand.
The draw towers sit on independent foundations anchored 60 feet into bedrock, separate from the main building structure, because microscopic vibrations can compromise the fiber. During a past earthquake that shook the floor, only a single strand broke across all operating towers. Uniquely, Prysmian holds a patent for coloring fiber directly on the draw tower using 13 colors, a process that allows technicians splicing underground cables decades later to identify matching lines. As the fiber travels down the tower, dual coatings are applied—a soft inner coating that acts like a cushion and a tough outer coating that acts like a protective shell. Through specialized processes, Prysmian can group nearly 7,000 individual fibers into a single cable, creating the infrastructure backbone for everything from high-speed internet to video streaming.