A Kentucky-based glass plant is poised to become a much bigger piece of the iPhone supply chain, with hundreds of both long-term and temporary jobs expected as production ramps up.
Apple has been getting glass for iPhone for 20 years from Kentucky. Specifically, in Harrodsburg, Kentucky, where the tech giant plans to expand manufacture the glass for every iPhone and Apple Watch.
Apple COO Sabih Khan and U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick toured Corning Inc. on Friday. The tour comes one year after Apple had invested $2.5 billion more in Kentucky, hoping to double plant jobs and triple its current output.
"Made in Kentucky. Made in America. Sold around the world," U.S. Rep Andy Barr said during the tour, according to The Lexington Herald-Leader. "We invent it here. We have the talent, and we have the manufacturing heritage. We will build it here, and we will sell it to the world."
"I want Kentucky to be the first place companies think about when deciding to make their next major American investment."
The plant currently has 350 employees, but hopes to employ 200 new hourly production jobs, alongside a handful of salaried employees in glass development. That's not quite double the existing 350, but that's because Corning was including construction jobs in that total.
However, Apple and Corning are planning to build a new Apple-Corning Innovation Center at the site. It is believed that construction will create 100 jobs, but those won't last.
"At Apple, we share the administration's commitment to producing more of the most innovative technology right here in the United States," said Khan.
"We're expanding our U.S. supply chain, and we will continue to build on these efforts because at Apple, we believe in the power of American innovation. We believe in the ingenuity of American workers, and we believe deeply in the promise of America."
The Apple-Corning Innovation Center may be similar to Apple's Advanced Manufacturing Center in Houston, though likely at a smaller scale.
