Nucor reveals plans to build TrueCore plant in Brigham City

By Brice Wallace

A Box Elder County manufacturing lynchpin has announced plans to build another manufacturing facility, bringing 50 new jobs to Brigham City.

Nucor Corp., based in North Carolina, will build a 120,000-square-foot TrueCore facility to manufacture insulated wall and roof panels using state-of-the-art continuous line equipment.

TrueCore produces insulated metal panels used as exterior walls, interior partitions, ceilings and roofs in the cold storage, commercial and industrial construction markets. The panel thicknesses range from 2 inches to 44 inches. Nucor acquired TrueCore in 2019 and made it part of the company’s Nucor Buildings Group division.

“Building this third TrueCore facility will greatly expand our capacity and enhance our ability to service our metal building customers,” said Jeff Carmean, president of Nucor Buildings Group. “This new facility will further our strategy of growing our line of value-added products for our customers.”

The facility is expected to be operational in 2022.

The announcement was made by the company, the Governor’s Office of Economic Development (GOED), Brigham City and the Economic Development Corporation of Utah (EDCUtah).

“We are excited to be building our third TrueCore facility in the last three years,” said Conor Lowery, director of operations at TrueCore. “Locating in Utah will give us a national footprint and allow us to competitively serve our customers in the western U.S. and Canadian markets.”

The new Brigham City project did not receive an incentive from GOED. Nucor did receive a $2.35 million state incentive in 2005 tied to a $27 million plant employing more than 200 workers in the city.

Contingent upon approval and finalization of local tax incentives, the TrueCore facility in Brigham City will join the approximately dozen facilities operated by Nucor through its divisions, subsidiaries and affiliates in the state of Utah. Nucor employs about 1,300 people in Utah and has had operations in the state since 1979 when it began building a scrap-based steel bar mill located in Plymouth. In Brigham City, the company currently operates Nucor Vulcraft Group and Nucor Building Systems facilities.

“Nucor’s long history of expansion in Utah demonstrates the success they have had with our state’s business climate and workforce,” said Dan Hemmert, executive director of GOED. “We welcome the company’s continued growth.”

“We’re gratified Nucor has selected Brigham City for another expansion,” said Mayor Tyler Vincent. “We believe businesses can succeed in our city and that Nucor’s continued commitment to our community demonstrates just that.”

Vincent also expressed gratitude to the taxing entity partners that collaborated on a tax incentive proposal, including Brigham City, Box Elder County, Box Elder School District, Bear River Water Conservancy District and Box Elder Mosquito Abatement District.

“The pandemic has shown us how important a strong industrial base is to our nation’s continued prosperity,” said Theresa A. Foxley, president and CEO of EDCUtah. “Manufacturers like Nucor find Utah a stable and productive base for reshoring and expanding their domestic operations.”

Publicly traded Nucor and its affiliates have facilities in the United States, Canada and Mexico. Their products include carbon and alloy steel in bars, beams, sheet and plate; hollow structural section tubing; electrical conduit; steel piling; steel joists and joist girders; steel deck; fabricated concrete reinforcing steel; cold finished steel; precision castings; steel fasteners; metal building systems; steel grating; and wire and wire mesh.

Through the David J. Joseph Co., Nucor brokers ferrous and nonferrous metals, pig iron and hot briquetted iron/direct reduced iron; supplies ferro-alloys; and processes ferrous and nonferrous scrap.

Nucor brands include Nucor Building Systems, American Buildings Co., Kirby Building Systems and CBC Steel Buildings. The Nucor Buildings Group currently has nine metal buildings plants with an annual capacity of approximately 360,000 tons. Its TrueCore facilities are in South Carolina and a second facility is under construction in Indiana.