Justice, economic development officials approve another $75 million for Nucor project

“Nucor is stepping up to the plate and expanding before they’ve even started,” Justice said after Thursday’s vote. “It’s not very often when someone is basically saying we’re going to expand before we even finish the beginning part. It’s unbelievable.”

The EDA approved a resolution to provide financial incentives for Nucor and its Mason County steel mill project, as well as a resolution to amend and restate the authorization of up to $75 million in financial incentives for the project. In exchange, Nucor will make an additional private investment of at least $50 million.

“We could not be more thrilled about the progress we’ve made on building our new state-of-the-art sheet steel mill and our 300 teammates currently working in Mason County. Furthermore, we are incredibly grateful for the state’s continued support and excited about the impact this project will have for generations to come,” said Johnny Jacobs, vice president and general manager of Nucor Steel West Virginia, in a statement Thursday.

North Carolina-based Nucor first announced plans in 2022 to purchase land near Apple Grove in Mason County for an electric arc furnace steel mill. The company broke ground at the Apple Grove site on Oct. 20, 2023.

Justice said the additional $75 million from the state will allow Nucor to purchase additional property at the Apple Grove site, as well as build docks and a loading facility near Wheeling for sending scrap metal by barge down to the Mason County facility.

“Nucor said we’re wanting to expand…in the northern part of the state,” Justice said. “They bought all kinds more property on Route 2. They want to expand their scope and bring in more and more and more employment.”

The project represents a $3.1 billion investment in the state by Nucor, which will take recycled scrap metal and create steel products at the 1,700-acre site. When complete, the plant will have a 3-million-ton sheet capacity. Thursday’s vote takes the state’s investment in the project to nearly $400 million and brings Nucor’s private investment to $3.5 billion.

“It is absolutely going to be a growth area like we can’t possibly imagine,” Justice said of the Nucor project in Mason County. “There’s not an adjective out there that will treat it fairly because it is unbelievable what is getting ready to happen and is already happening there.”

Prior to the official announcement of the Nucor project in 2022, the Legislature held a special session to pass several bills aimed at luring the Nucor project to the state, including bills to take money from the nearly $400 million in surplus tax revenue and funds from other state agencies for the Department of Economic Development. The money being taken from the agencies would be backfilled with available federal COVID-19 dollars.

The transfer of the $400 million in funding allowed the state to offer $315 million in matching funds for the Nucor project, the largest amount the state has ever offered for a project. The deal was part of a memorandum of understanding between the company and the state.

According to the 2022 deal between Nucor and the state, the company would need to invest a minimum of $500 million in order to get the first $125 million. After the company makes another $750 million investment, the state would provide $150 million.

More than 300 Nucor employees are on site now, with around 900 construction workers, with up to 2,000 construction jobs expected. Justice said Nucor will hire an additional 100 workers as part of the expansion.

The plant will open up in phases, with the first phase expected to go online at the end of 2026. By the time the facility is complete and ramps up in 2027, the plant could have as many as 800 full-time employees.

“When we begin operations in the second half of 2026, Nucor Steel West Virginia will produce some of the cleanest and most advanced steels required to build out our modern economy, from automotive to construction, data centers, and all industrial applications,” Jacobs said. “This greenfield project is the single largest investment in our company’s history and largest manufacturing investment in state history — and as we have continued to grow our investment here, the state has been with us every step of the way. They are a true partner.”

Nucor is also benefiting from several of the tax breaks and incentives in the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act — negotiated by both U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, I-W.Va., and U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va. — and the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, which Manchin helped negotiate.

Thursday was Justice’s last time chairing an EDA meeting as he finishes his second and final term as governor. Justice will take office next month as the state’s next junior U.S. Senator. But the Nucor project was the first big economic development announcement at the beginning of his second term as West Virginia emerged from the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The multiplier effect of those dollars is just mind-boggling,” Justice said. “To book end it from my standpoint, it’s a real honor because really and truly, you had to start somewhere…From the standpoint of economic development, Nucor has became the absolute flagship. That’s all there is to it.”