HVAC manufacturer Carrier Global Corporation announced plans to expand to Hillwood’s AllianceTexas in Fort Worth and invest $600 million over the next three years in an advanced manufacturing and engineering center.
Carrier/Provided
Carrier Global Corporation, the biggest HVAC manufacturer in the U.S., on Thursday announced plans to expand to Fort Worth and invest $600 million over the next three years in an advanced manufacturing and engineering center.
This marks the single largest investment the company has ever made in a factory.
Business has been booming for Carrier, especially for its commercial chillers used across industries like data centers, healthcare, education and industrial markets.
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“The demand has been great,” Carrier chairman and CEO David Gitlin told The Dallas Morning News in a phone interview Thursday morning. “People have seen it in the orders and the backlog increases, and now we’re in a position that we just need to execute, and we need to execute with phenomenal quality.”
After a nationwide search that eventually narrowed from six states to sites in Alabama and Texas, the Florida-based company chose a more than 1-million-square-foot facility on Distribution Drive in Hillwood’s AllianceTexas.
Gitlin said the company was impressed by Texas and Fort Worth leaders’ business-friendly attitude, growing manufacturing presence and “phenomenal” base of very skilled labor.
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Also enticing is that several of Carrier’s commercial customers, including data center companies and beyond, are in the Lone Star State.
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The Fort Worth factory will manufacture commercial chillers with production starting as soon as next summer. The plant is expected to create 1,500 jobs.
The facility will also have engineering labs with dedicated workforce development organizations and Carrier intends to partner with local schools and colleges to prepare the next generation of skilled workers.
“We will be a very proactive and proud member of the community,” Gitlin said, adding that it’s the “Carrier way” to have an environment where everyone is a part of something that matters.
HVAC manufacturer Carrier Global Corporation announced plans to expand to Hillwood’s AllianceTexas in Fort Worth and invest $600 million over the next three years in an advanced manufacturing and engineering center.
Carrier/Provided
Since becoming a public company in 2020, Carrier’s commercial business in the U.S. has set record backlog levels. This factory is an answer to that, expanding Carrier’s domestic manufacturing capacity for advanced thermal management systems, including air- and water-cooled commercial chillers.
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“The demand that we see over these coming years is unlike anything that we have ever seen before,” Gitlin said. “That’s why we needed the additional capacity. This is the single biggest investment that our company has ever made in a factory in our company’s history, and it’s because of the great work that so many people have done to build a product line that our customers value, to build the relationships, to build the solutions that are very differentiated. So the good news is we’ve been out there, we’ve been winning.”
Thursday’s announcement comes just more than a month after Fort Worth City Council unanimously approved a seven-year tax abatement with the Carrier.
“I’m proud that Fort Worth continues to be one of the top cities in the nation for advanced manufacturing, and this investment by Carrier is just the latest example of the momentum we’re building,” Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker said in an announcement. “With the creation of 1,500 high-quality jobs, this project will add to Fort Worth’s manufacturing hub at AllianceTexas while strengthening our energy and technology industries for years to come.”
Robert Allen, president and CEO of Fort Worth Economic Development Partnership, said momentum is continuing in Fort Worth.
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“This new investment from Carrier is a powerful statement about what’s possible in our city,” Allen said. “It demonstrates that Fort Worth is rapidly becoming a center of choice for advanced manufacturing and engineering services — a destination where companies choose to come to invest, expand and grow.”
Ross Perot Jr., chairman of Hillwood and the Perot Companies, called Carrier’s expansion into Fort Worth a “win for our region.”
“A global company of Carrier’s scale choosing AllianceTexas underscores our region’s momentum in advanced manufacturing and the strength of the workforce, infrastructure and supply chain connectivity that continue to attract major employers,” Perot said. “We’re proud to welcome Carrier and look forward to having them as part of this community.”
This reporting is part of the Future of North Texas, a community-funded journalism initiative supported by the Commit Partnership, Communities Foundation of Texas, The Dallas Foundation, the Dallas Mavericks, the Dallas Regional Chamber, Deedie Rose, Lisa and Charles Siegel, the McCune-Losinger Family Fund, The Meadows Foundation, the Perot Foundation, the United Way of Metropolitan Dallas and the University of Texas at Dallas. The News retains full editorial control of this coverage.
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