Corning Inc. formally opened a new optical cable manufacturing campus in Hickory, NC, on March 29. The Trivium campus has two facilities for manufacturing optical cable, which Corning said will support current and future fiber broadband deployments.
U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina M. Raimondo (who had a busy day) was among those who attended the opening ceremonies. "It is past time that every American be connected with affordable internet no matter where they live," said Secretary Raimondo. "We could not do it without the folks at Corning. We wouldn’t have the fiber, the innovation, the cable. We wouldn’t be able to connect rural America – all of America."
Others at the ceremony included Corning Chairman and CEO Wendell P. Weeks, North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper, and Stephen Milner, CEO of Planters Broadband Cooperative, on behalf of NTCA – The Rural Broadband Association. Corning recently signed a supply agreement with NTCA.
While Corning Inc. is headquartered in Corning, NY, its Corning Optical Communications business unit calls Charlotte, NC, home. The company now manufactures optical cable at two sites in Hickory and at sites in Newton and Winston-Salem, NC. Corning also manufactures bare fiber in Concord and Wilmington, NC. Overall, the company has operated in North Carolina for 40 years and currently employs more than 5000 people in the state. The new campus will increase Corning’s North Carolina headcount by “hundreds,” according to a press release.
“With this new manufacturing campus, we’re creating local jobs, we’re helping our workforce build important skills, we’re cultivating our next generation of talent right here in North Carolina, and we’re thrilled to continue addressing demand for the fiber and cable that are so vital to moving the world forward,” said Corning Chairman and CEO Wendell P. Weeks. “We appreciate the support of federal, state, local officials, and industry organizations as we come together to help connect the unconnected and to make ‘Internet for All’ a reality.”
The Trivium campus opening comes as part of a wave of expansion by Corning. The company recently opened a fiber production facility in Poland (see “Corning opens fiber production facility in Poland”) and has launched construction of a new cable plant in Gilbert, AZ (see “Backed by AT&T demand, Corning to build optical cable manufacturing plant in Arizona”).
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