Siler City leaders expecting ‘total transformation’ from Wolfspeed plant

Construction has already begun in Siler City, Chatham County, three days after Durham-based company Wolfspeed announced their massive chip manufacturing plant.

Siler City is a “blank canvas” for Wolfspeed, according to Mayor Chip Price.

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“For the town, it’s going to be a total transformational project,” he said. “Our population is probably going to triple.”

The plant, which will bring 1,800 well-paying jobs to the county, is expected to impact every aspect of life in Siler City, Price said.

Siler City is a town with around 7,800 residents, according to the latest estimate from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The median household income for Siler City is $38,977, which is half of the average salary Wolfspeed employees will make, according to the company.

“We have a strong work ethic and we have people that are honest,” Price said. “We think that’s what attracted Wolfspeed here. It will put us on the map.”

Construction begins a the site of a new manufacturing plant coming to Siler City, Chatham County.

Around 50% of the town’s residents are Hispanic and about 22% of the town’s residents live in poverty, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Wolfspeed’s planned $5 billion investment in Siler City is coming with some big costs – $1 billion in state and local tax incentives, grants, training and a direct appropriation from the North Carolina General Assembly. Of that amount, more than half is coming from Chatham County – the site of the plant – and nearby Siler City.

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Town leaders also acknowledged that the expected boom in population would lead to traffic and infrastructure issues.

“There will be an increase in traffic issues we started looking at,” said Siler City Town Manager Hank Raper.

But for the town of Siler City, the investment is worth it.

“We are ready for the challenge, we know this is coming,” he said.

Wolfspeed CEO Gregg Lowe told WRAL’s Debra Morgan that the company anticipates the plant will be completed by January 2024.

“We are going to have opportunities for shopping restaurants and entertainment we currently do not have,” Raper said. “It will change the makeup of our town. We are currently a town of less than 10,000, [now] we will have people here from all diverse walks of life.”