All glass used in every iPhone and Apple Watch will now be made in Kentucky.
HARRODSBURG, Ky. — Apple is expanding its operations in Kentucky as part of a $600 billion manufacturing commitment nationwide over the next four years.
The company’s new American Manufacturing Program (AMP) will “invest across America and incentivize global companies to onshore production and manufacture even more of Apple’s critical components in the U.S.”
In a news release Wednesday, Apple said it’s investing $2.5 billion in a manufacturing facility in Harrodsburg, Ky. as part of that commitment.
The facility, located about 30 miles southwest of Lexington, Ky., produces high-quality glass for Apple called Ceramic Shield.
Apple’s latest expansion means every single cover glass used in every iPhone and Apple Watch will now be made in Kentucky.
“Thanks to the power of American manufacturing, any customer anywhere in the world who buys a new iPhone or Apple Watch will be holding precision glass made right here in Kentucky,” Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO, said in the release.
Cook joined President Donald Trump in the White House to make the major announcement Wednesday.
He presented Trump with a specially engraved piece of glass crafted by a former U.S. Marine Corps Corporal who now works at Apple.
“The great people of Kentucky, you’re going to find it a great place to do business,” Trump said. “We’re doing these things in the United States instead of other countries, far away countries.”
Corning, the company that owns the facility, will dedicate its entire Harrodsburg plant to manufacturing for Apple, increasing its manufacturing and engineering workforce in Kentucky by 50 percent.
The two companies plan to open a new Apple-Corning Innovation Center at the Kentucky plant as well. The center will help with developing and engineering “advanced materials and next-generation manufacturing platforms” for future Apple products.
Apple has worked with the Harrodsburg, Ky. facility since 2007, where it developed and made the glass for the very first iPhone.
“Since the creation of Apple’s U.S. Advanced Manufacturing Fund in 2017, Apple has invested nearly $500 million in Corning’s Kentucky operations, with billions spent on glass manufactured in the U.S.,” the news release added.
Rep. Andy Barr (R-Ky.), who’s running for U.S. Senate, credited President Trump’s tariff policies and domestic policy bill for the investment, calling it a major boost for the “hundreds of Kentuckians” who work at the plant.
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