COMPANY'S TOWERS & STRUCTURES UNIT
Brice Wallace
Business Journal
Steel company Nucor Corp. is looking skyward as it grows its operations in Utah.
The North Carolina-based company’s Towers & Structures Inc. business unit will add 200 jobs in a $204.5 million project that will produce utility structures — tapered tubular steel poles for high-voltage electricity transmission lines among them — at its existing Brigham City campus.
The Utah production facility will join the business unit’s other utility structures production facilities under construction in Alabama and Indiana that are expected to be operating this year. Nucor established the Towers & Structures business unit in 2022 when it acquired Summit Utility Structures LLC, a Pennsylvania producer of steel poles and steel structures for utility infrastructure. That location, which primarily serves customers in the northeastern part of the country, is currently being modernized and automated to increase production.
“We decided we wanted to serve this market nationwide really well and follow the need where it is, and decided we needed to have a footprint out West,” Laurent De Mey, vice president and general manager of Nucor Towers & Structures, told the Utah Governor’s Office of Economic Opportunity board at the board’s January meeting.
The GOEO board awarded a tax credit incentive of up to $2.1 million over 10 years for the project. Also assisting the company is the Utah Inland Port Authority, whose board approved a property tax rebate for the project.
“We really see this market of energy is in a transition, a major transition,” De Mey said. “People are moving, there’s population growth, there’s a strong growth of renewable energy and the requirement for energy is just booming.”
Large data centers and artificial intelligence also are impacting the power grid, he added.
“Nucor has a strong presence in the West, and locating this new facility in Utah positions us to meet growing demand for utility infrastructure in the region resulting from distributed energy projects, data centers and population growth,” Leon Topalian, chairman, president and CEO of Nucor Corp., said in a prepared statement. “As a global leader in sustainable steelmaking, we believe our nation’s energy infrastructure should be built with American-made low embodied carbon steel.”
The Utah production facility will be highly automated and use rail to bring in plate and sheet products from other Nucor locations to meet its raw material needs and produce a fully engineered product.
The GOEO incentive is part of the state’s Rural Economic Development Tax Increment Financing (REDTIF) program. GOEO documents indicate the project will result in new wages of more than $114.5 million over 10 years, with an average wage of $86,481. New state tax revenue is estimated at nearly $8.5 million during that time.
The UIPA incentive allows a maximum of 30 percent of Nucor’s property tax liability to be rebated over 25 years. Businesses eligible for incentives in UIPA project areas must align with targeted industries identified by local governments and meet capital expenditure thresholds.
In a prepared statement, De Mey said Utah’s robust infrastructure and skilled workforce make it the ideal location for the investment.
Nucor Towers & Structures joins three other Nucor facilities in Brigham City, expanding the company’s presence in Box Elder County.
“We are well-acquainted with Nucor’s quality and integrity and look forward to working with them on a fourth project within our city,” said Mayor Dennis J Bott. “Our staff has worked with Nucor, the Utah Inland Port Authority and GOEO on this project for over a year. Nucor Towers & Structures’ decision to locate in Brigham City is a validation of the positive business environment we have worked hard to cultivate. We look forward to many years of partnership with Nucor Towers & Structures.”
“Utah is proud to support sustainable initiatives that foster growth and opportunities for businesses and residents,” said Ryan Starks, executive director of the Governor’s Office of Economic Opportunity. “Companies like Nucor strengthen Utah’s infrastructure, empower local businesses, and provide lasting career opportunities that support families across our state.”
The Nucor project “is a testament to the power of collaboration in driving economic growth,” said Ben Hart, UIPA’s executive director. “Nucor’s expansion underscores our mission to attract industries that align with Utah’s long-term vision for innovation and sustainability. The addition of skilled jobs and significant investment will be a catalyst for continued development in the region.”
“Nucor’s continued investment in Brigham City highlights their long-term commitment to manufacturing in Utah,” said Scott Cuthbertson, president of the Economic Development Corporation of Utah. “Their growing presence in Brigham City, now with multiple facilities, underscores the region’s strategic importance. Nucor’s focus on cleaner, more sustainable steel manufacturing sets a standard for innovation, and the addition of steel galvanization capabilities helps address supply chain needs within Utah’s manufacturing ecosystem.”
Both the GOEO and UIPA incentives are post-performance. GOEO does not provide upfront cash incentives. Each year that an incentivized company meets the obligations in its contract with GOEO, it will qualify to receive a portion of the new, additional state taxes the company paid to the state.
Nucor and its affiliates manufacture steel and steel products, with operating facilities in the United States, Canada and Mexico. Products produced include carbon and alloy steel in bars, beams, sheet and plate; hollow structural section tubing; electrical conduit; steel racking; steel piling; steel joists and joist girders; steel deck; fabricated concrete reinforcing steel; cold finished steel; precision castings; steel fasteners; metal building systems; insulated metal panels; overhead doors; steel grating; wire and wire mesh; and utility structures. Through the David J. Joseph Co. and its affiliates, Nucor brokers ferrous and nonferrous metals, pig iron and hot briquetted iron/direct reduced iron; supplies ferro-alloys; and processes ferrous and nonferrous scrap.