Governor Pat McCrory and N.C. Commerce Secretary Sharon Decker announced on Oct. 4 that NGK Ceramics USA will expand its operations in Iredell County. The company plans to create 18 new jobs and invest more than $22 million in Mooresville.
NGK Ceramics USA Inc. is a subsidiary of NGK Insulators, Ltd. of Nagoya, Japan. NGK Ceramics USA manufactures automotive ceramic substrates used globally in gasoline and diesel catalytic converters and directly supports and supplies all major automobile manufacturers, and heavy-duty diesel manufacturers, with high-performance components for emission control systems. The company currently employs more than 600 people at its Mooresville facility.
This newest addition comes on the heels of the company’s $93 million expansion announced in 2011, which is currently in the final stages of completion. Over the past 10 years, NGK’s total investment in its Mooresville site has exceeded $200 million. NGK’s employee base has grown from 278 to 613 workers during this period.
“Our latest expansion enlarges the footprint of our powder preparation facility, and is scheduled to occur over the course of the next year,” said NGK Ceramics USA Senior Vice President Steve Dailey. “Increasing our capacity in Mooresville allows our team to efficiently increase the volume of materials we export to our NGK plants in Indonesia, Mexico, Poland and China.”
NGK Ceramics USA is celebrating 25 years of manufacturing world-class products in Mooresville. The company credits a manufacturing-friendly local economic climate, rising global demand for NGK’s Honeyceram ceramics products in the automotive industry, and access to a motivated and skilled workforce as factors that have added to the success of NGK and bolstered the local economy over the past 25 years. Since its first substrate was sold, local workers have produced more than 243 million substrates that are used in vehicles around the world. Ceramic substrates are honeycomb-like structures that are used as components in catalytic converters.
NGK Ceramics USA President Tomokazu Asai stated, “The continued investment by NGK in our Mooresville facility is a testament to the confidence that our Japan-based senior leadership team has in our local employees, the Town of Mooresville, Iredell County and the State of North Carolina.”
Other partners that helped with this project include: N.C. Community Colleges, Iredell County, Town of Mooresville and the Mooresville-South Iredell Economic Development Corporation. Read more.