Equipment manufacturer JCB North America has reported significant progress on the construction of its new manufacturing facility in San Antonio, TX – which it estimates will create 1,500 jobs. Construction continues on schedule, with hiring set to begin before the end of the calendar year and production set to launch in mid-2026.
The new facility, located on a 400-acre site, will serve as a hub for producing JCB’s telehandlers and mobile elevating work platforms. The $500 million price tag on the investment makes it the single-largest investment in the company’s 80-year history
The project was already in the works (it was announced in 2023) when, this past April, JCB announced plans to increase the size of the facility, bringing the total footprint to one million square feet.
JCB manufactures globally, with half of its 22 total factories located in the U.K. It also has one manufacturing site in Brazil and one in China, as well as several in India. The San Antonio facility is not its first plant – it also operates a facility in Savannah, GA, which as of 2023 employs 1,000 people – but the company has stated that this significant expansion highlights its commitment to U.S. manufacturing and a desire to strengthen its U.S. supply chain.
Although full hiring will begin in late 2025, the company has already begun hiring key roles in San Antonio, and is focused on building a workforce from both the local community and veteran populations. JCB has a long-documented history of explicit support for veteran community, and earlier this year debuted a special, military-themed edition of its teleskid with a portion of sales donated to the VetsAid charity foundation.
For construction, the architectural design of the facility is led by RVK; mass grading was completed by R&S Excavation; and utility work was led by Ella Contracting. With foundational work complete, vertical construction has now begun, headed up by Texas-based Joeris General Contractors.
