A Colorado manufacturer broke ground Wednesday on an RTP-area factory expansion — the latest North Carolina project aimed at strengthening the domestic supply chain for critical defense materials and technology.
Forge Nano, which makes semiconductors and batteries for commercial and defense customers, is expected to create about 250 manufacturing, engineering and operations jobs at its Morrisville factory.
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The Thornton, Colorado-based company plans to produce batteries for defense and aerospace systems at the facility, backed by a $100 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy. The expansion will transform Forge Nano’s existing 100,000-square-foot operation into a manufacturing campus of nearly 315,000 square feet, the company said. Production is expected to begin in 2028.
The federal government’s interest in Forge Nano centers on efforts to strengthen the domestic supply of products used in military and commercial applications. In this case, the focus is advanced lithium-ion batteries.
Building more domestic capacity could reduce U.S. dependence on foreign countries that control large portions of the market and insulate the government and private industry from supply disruptions or economic pressure.
"As global competition increases, it's essential to maintain our leadership in technology and in innovation,” U.S. Sen. Ted Budd, R-N.C., who has advocated for expanding domestic semiconductor manufacturing, said at a groundbreaking event in Morrisville.
Budd said maintaining a technological edge requires investment in both national security and commercial interests.
Forge Nano's facility is expected to produce about 3 gigawatt-hours of batteries annually. The company says that capacity could support millions of drones, military radio batteries or batteries for electric military vehicles.
The project “will give defense, aerospace and commercial customers access to advanced battery cells manufactured here at home, at the scale needed to compete globally,” Paul Lichty, Forge Nano’s chief executive, said in a statement Wednesday.
The Energy Department says the investment will help establish a domestic supply of high-performance lithium-ion batteries for national defense and other specialized markets.
“President Trump has been adamant about saying we need to build things in America,” Audrey Robertson, assistant secretary of energy at the Department of Energy, told reporters Wednesday in Morrisville. “And that's why you're seeing the amount of development and the really forward momentum across the supply chain.”
Forge Nano is one of several North Carolina projects supporting the federal government’s efforts to build domestic supply chains.
Vulcan Elements is developing a $1 billion rare-earth magnet facility as part of a $1.4 billion partnership with the U.S. government. The magnets are used in weapons, aircraft, missiles, drones, data centers and semiconductor manufacturing.
In Siler City, Wolfspeed is developing a silicon-carbide semiconductor manufacturing facility. The company has received hundreds of millions of dollars in federal tax refunds under a program established to boost domestic chip manufacturing.
The broader federal strategy amounts to a form of insurance: investing in domestic manufacturing capacity before a disruption makes it essential. That can include funding projects that may be difficult to finance privately and using defense procurement rules to create demand for U.S.-made products.
Forge Nano's project is also expected to benefit from defense sourcing requirements taking effect in 2028. The rules are intended to restrict the Defense Department from purchasing certain battery cells made by foreign adversaries.
Officials say the investments also carry commercial and local economic benefits.
“Expanding domestic battery production will drive economic growth, create jobs, support our clean energy transition, and strengthen America’s technology supply chain,” U.S. Rep. Deborah Ross said in a statement.
Forge Nano is investing up to $330 million in the facility, the company said. Samsung SDI, which specializes in batteries and energy storage, is expected to provide manufacturing expertise and supply-chain support and plans to purchase cells produced there.
Federal support for major manufacturing projects, however, has not always unfolded as initially expected.
The government promised Wolfspeed $750 million in direct funding and $1 billion in tax credits under the federal CHIPS and Science Act. The funding was pledged in 2024 by the Biden administration, but its future became uncertain after President Donald Trump expressed opposition to the 2022 semiconductor law, contributing to uncertainty surrounding the company.
Lichty said Wednesday that he is confident Forge Nano will receive the full $100 million pledged by the Energy Department.
“We have been assured that the money will come in and I have no doubts about it,” he said.
Forge Nano said it chose North Carolina for the expansion because of the state’s growing advanced manufacturing sector, its pool of skilled workers from universities, community colleges and technical programs, and competitive state and local incentives.
The state approved up to $1.5 million in tax incentives for the company, provided it meets investment and hiring goals established in 2023.
The Morrisville location also puts Forge Nano near Research Triangle Park’s engineering talent base and major transportation networks, making it easier to move products to customers.