Dive Brief:
- Taiwan-based Lite-On Technology will spend up to $919 million to establish a manufacturing and research and development campus in McKinney, Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott announced Monday.
- The site will manufacture electronics components such as power management systems to supply Lite-On’s clients in the artificial intelligence infrastructure and energy markets, according to the press release.
- The campus is expected to create more than 600 jobs and Lite-On anticipates the site to be fully operational by 2030, according to the company’s application to the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts.
Dive Insight:
The investment includes $108.5 million to acquire two existing buildings in the Core5 Logistics Center, a new industrial park in McKinney. The buildings, which span more than 650,000 square feet combined, were completed in the first quarter of 2023, according to real estate investment firm Colliers.
The industrial site is strategically located near Interstate 75 and Highway 380 as well as Dallas Love Field and Dallas-Fort Worth International Airports and the Port of Shreveport, according to LoopNet.
The location will enable Lite-On to receive materials via air or ground freight and send finished goods to its OEM clients, cloud service providers and other customers across the United States, according to the comptroller application.
The site also will allow Lite-On to receive electronic subassemblies, power conversion components, printed circuit assemblies, enclosures, thermal management materials and firmware-integrated systems from its global manufacturing network and suppliers. Final assembly, testing quality verification and packaging of Lite-On’s electronic components will be done at the McKinney campus.
“As AI infrastructure development and the global energy transition continue to reshape industries, this investment will further strengthen LITEON’s global competitiveness and support the company's long-term growth,” Chairman Tom Soong said in a statement.
Texas state officials have awarded Lite-On a $3.5 million grant under its performance incentive, the Texas Enterprise Fund, and $100,000 under its military veteran hiring incentive, according to the McKinney Economic Development Corp. press release. The MEDC and McKinney city officials are expected to finalize an incentive package in July.
In addition to manufacturing and R&D, the McKinney campus will serve as the electronics maker’s North American headquarters for its U.S. subsidiary, Lite-On Inc., the Taiwan-based manufacturer said in its state comptroller application.
The campus will expand Lite-On’s presence in Texas and the U.S. The company has a sales center in nearby Plano, and in Milpitas, California. Lite-On also has a subsidiary, Power Innovations International, located in East American Fork, Utah.
