MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Korean company Hyosung Heavy Industries announced it will invest $87 million in a Memphis manufacturing facility and bring 410 jobs to the area.
Hyosung, also called HICO, will update the existing Mitsubishi Electric plant in Memphis. The company manufactures electrical equipment including transformers, according to the state’s Economic Development Department. Company officials said it is their first investment in the United States.
The sale is expected to close in 2020 pending regulatory approval.
Officials with the company made the announcement Friday in Memphis, along with Gov. Bill Lee and state and local officials.
Lee said the average wage at the company is about $23 an hour.
Mitsubishi, which opened its $200 million facility in Memphis in 2013, announced last month it would lay off 160 workers from its facility on Riverport Road in January. Mitsubishi was negotiating a sale of the facility and the plant’s manager at the time was hopeful the employees would be rehired by a new owner.
Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland said the closure of Mitsubishi would’ve led to the loss of hundreds of jobs, but Friday’s announcement means that more jobs will instead be locating in the city.
“This is sort of the phoenix rising from the ashes, where we have a company coming in and, over the long term, is going to give us more jobs than what we have now,” Strickland said.