Companies in Motion
Siemens plans an advanced manufacturing facility near Pendergrass in Jackson County, backed by at least $185 million in investment and an expectation of more than 1,400 new jobs over three years. Georgia’s economic-development agency announced the project on August 7 and said it remains pending final approvals. That qualification matters: the project is a significant hiring commitment, not evidence that a plant is operating or that the forecast positions have opened.
An existing building, a 2027 hiring start
The plant will not be built from the ground up. According to the state, the roughly 550,000-square-foot facility at 580 Raco Parkway near Pendergrass will produce low-voltage electrical components. Main Street News reported that the site, at the Dry Pond exit off Interstate 85, is an existing building that previously served as a Sears warehouse. The state says buildout is expected to begin in November, with hiring for engineering, fabrication, assembly and testing roles planned for 2027. The products are aimed in part at the data-center market.
“Georgia was a natural choice for our next manufacturing investment,” Barry Powell, North America president of Siemens’ Electrical Products business unit, said in the state’s announcement. Project partners named by the state include the Jackson County Area Chamber of Commerce, the Jackson County Industrial Development Authority, Georgia Power and Georgia Quick Start, the state’s workforce-training program.
Main Street News also reported that the county development authority approved a memorandum of understanding, a performance and accountability agreement, a bond resolution and a seven-year payment-in-lieu-of-taxes arrangement that abates about $3 million in taxes, and that the project is associated with a $10 million state EDGE grant. The state’s own release still describes the project as pending final approvals.
The skills question
The investment reflects a wider challenge in manufacturing recruitment. An advanced facility can need production technicians, automation specialists, maintenance staff, engineers, quality workers and logistics professionals at different stages of its ramp-up. The state names engineering, fabrication, assembly and testing, but it does not assign a job count to any occupation. Recruiters should avoid building a detailed vacancy list from a headline employment estimate.
Location matters too. Pendergrass is in Jackson County along the I-85 corridor northeast of Atlanta, and its labor pool and commuting patterns differ from those of offices in Fulton or DeKalb counties. A statewide announcement cannot settle whether local training capacity will produce enough specialized staff, how many workers will commute, or which existing manufacturers could face stiffer competition for the same skills.
Siemens already has a substantial Georgia presence. The state said the company employs more than 1,700 people across two manufacturing facilities and six offices in Georgia, including its Peachtree Corners electrical-products facility. Established operations can supply organizational experience, but the announcement does not say whether workers will transfer internally. Current Georgia payroll and future Pendergrass hiring should be counted separately.
The milestones to watch are final approval, the start of buildout expected in November, any published training partnerships and the first job advertisements expected in 2027. For people interested in the project, Siemens’ official careers site—not a projected economic-development total—will establish whether a specific position is open, what it pays and where applicants would work.
Sources
- Georgia Department of Economic Development, announcement of the Siemens Jackson County project, August 7, 2026. https://georgia.org/press-releases/2026/siemens-plans-1400-new-jobs-jackson-county
- Office of the Governor of Georgia, press release on the Siemens Jackson County project, August 7, 2026. https://gov.georgia.gov/press-releases/2026-08-07/gov-kemp-siemens-plans-1400-new-jobs-jackson-county
- Main Street News, report on the Siemens Pendergrass plant and local incentive approvals. https://www.mainstreetnews.com/jackson/news/siemens-plans-185-million-pendergrass-plant-1-400-jobs/
Featured photo: A Siemens manufacturing plant in Sacramento, California, seen from the street. Representative image of a Siemens factory; it is not the Pendergrass site. Photo: Sevgonlernassau, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0). Cropped from the original.
