LORDSTOWN, Ohio – The owners of Foxconn’s manufacturing plant have indicated that a major expansion of the facility is under consideration, according to documents filed this week with the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency.
Crescent Dune LLC, an entity affiliated with Japan-based SoftBank Group, submitted water quality certification documents to the OEPA on Nov. 17 related to an expansion project involving “manufacturing and assembly for modular data center and server manufacturing; assembly for IT server rack and servers; modular data center for IT, power distribution, HVAC, and related components.”
The filings coincide with reports Thursday by the tech news service The Information and Reuters that SoftBank plans to invest up to $3 billion in Lordstown to manufacture equipment for OpenAI’s data centers.
According to the reports, the Lordstown plant would manufacture components for AI data centers in Milam County, Texas, and other locations.
Foxconn also on Thursday said it would collaborate with OpenAI to engineer data center racks, components and other hardware used in artificial intelligence systems.
On Tuesday, Crescent Dune submitted a wetland and stream delineation report to OPEA that noted “Foxconn is proposing to expand their existing facility located at 2300 Hallock-Young Rd.,” and performed an analysis on approximately 160 acres that comprise the rear portion of the sprawling site.
An aerial map filed to accompany the OPEA documents show a “proposed project layout,” which etches a rectangular footprint within the 160-acre area that extends from behind the plant and stretches north to the Goodman Rail Yard. The east side of the project also runs parallel to railroad tracks.
“This is the kind of transformational investment most communities only talk about,” Lyle Huffman, executive vice president of government affairs and community impact for the Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber, said in a statement.
“If reports of a $3 billion commitment to retool the Lordstown facility hold true, it would signal a deepening level of confidence in what can be done here,” he said. “It would suggest that our region has the capacity and workforce to support large, complex projects tied to the future of technology. The company believes in the Valley, and we believe in Foxconn. We hold that same belief in SoftBank as they look to grow their presence here.”
Trumbull County Commissioner Rick Hernandez said he’s met with representatives of SoftBank who have informed him that the plant could employ as many as 1,700 workers by next year, including 400 who are now employed there by Foxconn.
“They are going to build and manufacture components for inside shipping containers. These are modular,” he told The Business Journal last week. Hiring for the project could begin by the end of this year, he added.
In August, it was announced that SoftBank had acquired the Lordstown plant from Foxconn for $375 million. The plant – a 6.2 million-square-foot factory – was formerly a General Motors manufacturing complex until it shut down in 2019. Foxconn said it would remain in the plant as a contract manufacturer to support the project.
The purchase is intended to help launch the Japanese investment firm’s $500 billion Stargate data center project with partners OpenAI and Oracle Corp. Part of the Lordstown effort calls for the construction of a small data center in the front part of the complex along Hallock Young Road.