1. Malta, New York — GlobalFoundries selected to operate two new chip fabs
10/14/2026 — GlobalFoundries said Wednesday it was selected to operate two new semiconductor fabs at its Malta campus under a U.S.-Japan initiative providing up to $21 billion. About $10 billion is designated to accelerate the first 300-millimeter fab, which is expected online in 2029, while a second approximately $10 billion investment remains conditional.
GlobalFoundries expects to break ground on the first fab later this year at its permitted, shovel-ready site and projects about 27,000 construction and ecosystem jobs plus more than 1,000 manufacturing jobs across the initiative. The scale points to years of civil, structural, mechanical, electrical, cleanroom and commissioning work, but the second fab is not yet a fully committed build.
2. West Point, Pennsylvania — Merck opens ADVANCE facility within $2.9 billion plan
10/14/2026 — Pennsylvania officials joined Merck on Wednesday to open the ADVANCE research facility at the company's West Point campus. Merck is investing $550 million in ADVANCE and the nearby Springhouse Innovation Park as part of a broader $2.9 billion Montgomery County commitment planned through the end of 2030.
The robotics- and AI-enabled facility supports drug research alongside a campus that manufactures more than 200 million vaccine doses annually. The wider program should sustain construction, process systems, automation, validation and maintenance work, although the state announcement did not identify individual contractor awards or a trade-by-trade hiring schedule.
3. Somerset, Kentucky — Soybean plant stays idled as biodiesel expansion advances
10/14/2026 — Continental Refining Company said its soybean-processing plant will remain idled for the season while it evaluates repair and restart options following a July 5 fire at its Somerset complex. The company said its biodiesel production and fuel-terminal operations were not affected and have continued operating.
A capital project started in August is expected to double biodiesel capacity by November 15, and the company is also adding a rail spur to the Norfolk Southern main line. That separates an unresolved soybean-unit recovery from active construction on the operating side of the site, with no restart date or confirmed cause announced for the damaged plant.
4. Conover, North Carolina — Utili-Serve plans $24.8 million grid-services expansion
10/14/2026 — Utili-Serve will invest more than $24.8 million to expand its Conover headquarters and construct a 25,000-square-foot manufacturing facility, North Carolina officials announced Wednesday. The project is tied to 105 planned jobs and will add field-control and protective-relay panel manufacturing.
The expansion is designed to make Conover a regional hub for project management, manufacturing and logistics supporting East Coast utility work. Its scope directly supports substation construction and maintenance, transformer service, panel assembly, installation and commissioning, with state incentives contingent on investment and job targets.
5. Carson County, Texas — Fermi and AMD add support for first Project Matador lease
10/14/2026 — Fermi said Tuesday it signed a credit-support agreement with AMD for a phase-one lease at the Project Matador energy and AI campus in Carson County. The agreement supports 222 megawatts of gross power capacity, while a separate framework describes possible expansion of up to 650 megawatts.
The arrangement is a financing and commercial milestone rather than notice that every later phase is fully funded or under construction. For data-center and power trades, the confirmed development advances the first lease while leaving later expansion subject to binding customer agreements, financing and phased execution.
6. Willacy County, Texas — Project Kati II data-center filing outlines 112-megawatt build
10/14/2026 — A Texas accessibility filing registered October 7 identifies Project Kati II as a privately funded, 471,884-square-foot AI data center in Willacy County with an approximately 112-megawatt critical IT load. The filing lists Soluna KK Energy Service Co. as owner and estimates construction cost at $471.8 million.
The record lists new construction and a projected October 2027 completion, but its current status is only project registered and it does not establish a final investment decision or general-contractor award. If advanced, the single-story facility would create major electrical, cooling, controls, structural and commissioning scope.
7. Eastern Washington — Standard Solar acquires two utility solar projects
10/14/2026 — Standard Solar said Wednesday it acquired the Palouse Junction project in Connell and the Cunningham project in Othello from OneEnergy Renewables. The two ground-mounted projects total 15.79 megawatts DC and are expected to reach completion in the first quarter of 2027.
OneEnergy remains the developer and engineering, procurement and construction provider, with Franklin Public Utility District and Big Bend Electric Cooperative as the respective offtakers. The transaction moves two defined construction packages forward for civil, racking, electrical, interconnection and commissioning crews without implying a broader hiring commitment.
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