“North Carolina is a natural home for Vulcan Elements’ next stage,” said Vulcan Elements CEO John Maslin. “We need to draw on world-class talent, innovation, and infrastructure as we secure one of the 21st century’s most important supply chains. As home to our current facility, North Carolina has proven that it has all three. And as we create 1,000 new American jobs, we will tap into the region’s deep bench of experience across industries—from engineers and technicians who understand hardware and manufacturing to military veterans who have spent their careers managing complex supply chains, operating heavy machinery, and serving their country.”
Vulcan Elements conducted an extensive multistate search for this facility over the course of the last year. The site selected in Benson meets all of Vulcan Elements’ requirements for 10,000 tonnes of magnet production, including size, power, and transportation. Vulcan Elements placed a special focus on workforce and talent during the site search, prioritizing regions where it could recruit top talent from relevant industries, across multiple levels of experience—from PhDs to engineers and technicians. The Town of Benson’s proximity to scores of universities, community colleges, and workforce training programs, numerous powder metallurgy and advanced manufacturing facilities, and significant military and veteran communities—including Fort Bragg—distinguished the site and offered clear advantages for the company’s growth plans. Vulcan Elements will collaborate with North Carolina’s universities, community colleges, and workforce training programs—including the Johnston Community College and its new Advanced Manufacturing Training Facility—to train and hire an industry-leading team that will directly strengthen American economic resilience and national security.
This announcement follows Vulcan Elements’ $1.4 billion partnership with the United States Government to build a 100% vertically-integrated, domestic magnet supply chain with the company’s upstream partner ReElement Technologies. As United States Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick stated: “Our investment in Vulcan Elements will accelerate U.S. production of rare earth magnets for American manufacturers. We are laser-focused on bringing critical mineral and rare earth manufacturing back home, ensuring America’s supply chain is strong, secure and perfectly reliable.”
North Carolina Governor Josh Stein announced the final site selection earlier today at the Benson facility: “The confidence that Vulcan Elements has to expand to Johnston County is proof that we have the right assets to help innovative start-ups scale their businesses,” said Governor Stein. “With semiconductor chips, batteries, and now magnets, North Carolina is building an innovation and manufacturing hub that will drive the economy of the future.” North Carolina’s Department of Commerce provided a strong incentive package that will accelerate Vulcan’s expansion, manufacturing, and hiring.
United States Senator Ted Budd, a strong ally for Vulcan Elements, added: “Vulcan’s $1 billion investment in North Carolina will bring the largest rare earth magnet factory outside China to Johnston County, along with 1,000 new, good-paying jobs. As a magnet company that is fully decoupled from China, Vulcan’s investment will revitalize our manufacturing industry by building critical components for many cutting-edge technologies, boosting the American economy and our national security alike. I am proud to have worked in the Senate to help forge the partnership between Vulcan and the Departments of Defense and Commerce, and to break down barriers that, for too long, have held back domestic magnet production. I am grateful that the Old North State is leading America’s manufacturing capabilities across the three major components of next-generation technologies: semiconductors, batteries, and now rare earth magnets.”
To anyone who’s hard-working, intellectually curious, and mission-focused: we’re hiring.
Vulcan Elements manufactures sintered permanent Neodymium Iron Boron (NdFeB) magnets in the United States for critical defense and commercial applications. Vulcan Elements’ products have been independently validated to ensure they meet the highest standards of performance. Vulcan Elements’ magnets have already been delivered to customers across critical defense and technology sectors. NdFeB magnets convert electricity into motion. They are essential components in almost every advanced machine and electronic device—from AI data centers and semiconductor fabrication equipment to satellites, drones, robotics, electric motors, and virtually all military platforms. Vulcan Elements remains committed to advancing technological innovations, galvanizing America’s manufacturing workforce, and collaborating with public and private sector stakeholders to strengthen the domestic rare earth magnet supply chain.