WARREN, Ohio – A Trumbull County commissioner says he anticipates between 1,600 and 2,000 people to be employed at the former General Motors Lordstown assembly complex once operations under the ownership of SoftBank begins.
“They had said that the jobs would be anywhere from food service to line workers to high-tech jobs,” Commissioner Richard Hernandez said during a working session of the Board of Trumbull County Commissioners on Tuesday.
Hernandez said he was contacted Tuesday morning by a representative of SoftBank.
Last week, Foxconn announced it had sold the former GM plant to SoftBank for $375 million. On Monday, Taiwan-based Foxconn Chairman Young Liu confirmed the sale to reporters and said his company would manufacture components used for data centers, as SoftBank ramps up a major investment in the United States.
The effort is part of SoftBank’s Stargate project, a venture formed with Open AI and Oracle. The venture expects to invest approximately $500 billion into advancing artificial intelligence infrastructure in the United States over the next decade.
“There will not be a data center at the Lordstown plant,” Hernandez clarified. Instead, the factory would be used to manufacture components, some of which are akin to storage containers that can be shipped throughout the world. “They will have one on display outside the building,” he said. He also mentioned that the plant could manufacture other components related to artificial intelligence applications.
Hernandez said the project could be underway by the first quarter of next year. “They will employ up to 1,600 and 2,000 people,” the commissioner said. “This project is moving forward. It’s great news.”
Commissioner Denny Malloy said it’s his understanding that Foxconn has not placed anyone at the plant on layoff, which employs approximately 400. Instead, employees are helping to prepare and retool the plant for the transition.
Malloy added that he received a call Monday from U.S. Sen. Jon Husted, R-Ohio, who congratulated the county on this recent development. “He said he’s going to keep an eye on the Senate to see this thing through,” he said.
Commissioner Tony Bernard then presented an open invitation for President Donald Trump to visit the Mahoning Valley and the SoftBank plant.
Foxconn acquired the former GM plant from Lordstown Motors Corp. in 2022. Lordstown Motors purchased the factory after GM shut down operations there in 2019.
Initially, Foxconn had intended to use the factory to manufacture EVs but has since pivoted from that business model. A joint venture with Lordstown Motors fell apart, and that startup filed for bankruptcy.
Foxconn did produce a battery-powered autonomous tractor for California-based Monarch Tractor at the plant, but Monarch has confirmed that the product will no longer be manufactured there.
Earlier Tuesday, SoftBank announced its plans to acquire a $2 billion stake in U.S. chip manufacturer Intel, which is currently building a $20 billion computer chip manufacturing campus near Columbus. That project, however, has met with several delays.
Hernandez said the recent developments with Foxconn and SoftBank – plus other major projects such as construction on Kimberly-Clark’s factory underway in Warren and Howland townships – bode well for the community.
“We’re looking at a great future in Trumbull County,” Hernandez said.