Today Apple announced plans to develop a new $1 billion campus in North Carolina, a move that will see the company build out its first major East Coast hub.
Apple’s new campus will include an engineering hub and is expected to create more than 3,000 new jobs. Apple claimed the campus will generate more than $1.5 billion in annual economic benefits by the time it’s fully complete.
Apple’s upcoming campus is slated to become a part of North Carolina’s Research Triangle Park, one of the country’s largest and oldest research parks which gets its name from being located near three major research and engineering schools (North Carolina State, Duke, and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill).
Apple said it will start hiring immediately, with new employees expected to work out of leased office space in the area before moving into the campus starting sometime in 2022. According to ABC 11, the average salary for jobs created by Apple in the area will be $185,000 a year.
A number of Apple execs already have strong ties to the area, with CEO Tim Cook and COO Jeff Williams having earned MBAs from Duke.
“As a North Carolina native, I’m thrilled Apple is expanding and creating new long-term job opportunities in the community I grew up in,” Williams said in the statement announcing the news.
Apple said it will also create a new $100 million fund to help support schools and community initiatives in the Raleigh-Durham area. The fund will go toward development of critical infrastructure, including broadband internet, roads, and public schools.
The move to create a new East Coast hub was part of Apple’s commitment in 2018 to invest $350 million into the U.S. over five years, a goal Apple said it has already outpaced. Now, Apple plans to increase those contributions by 20% to $430 million over the next five years, with new investments into teams and facilities in other states, including Colorado, Massachusetts, Texas, Iowa, and Washington.
While Apple’s new North Carolina campus is part of a larger wave of expansion in the U.S., considering the current state of international affairs and the ongoing chip crunch, it could also be viewed as a rather prudent move to build up its domestic operations to help ensure increased stability in the future.