Curtiss-Wright plans $80 million Cheswick expansion, with 150 jobs expected
Curtiss-Wright plans to invest $80 million over multiple years to expand its Cheswick campus in Allegheny County, a project Pennsylvania says is expected to create 150 jobs within three years while retaining more than 860 existing positions.
Gov. Josh Shapiro’s administration announced the planned investment July 6. The Commonwealth said it has offered more than $1.2 million in support for the project, including a proposed $1.21 million grant through the Pennsylvania Strategic Investments to Enhance Sites, or PA SITES, program.
The investment and state support are announced plans, not evidence that construction has been completed or that the new jobs have already been filled. The state announcement did not provide a construction completion date, and it does not establish a final value for any additional tax credits that may be considered.
Two buildings planned at Cheswick campus
Curtiss-Wright plans to construct two buildings at its 118-acre Cheswick campus. According to the administration, the facilities are intended to expand the company’s manufacturing and testing capacity and improve operational efficiency.
The campus designs, manufactures and tests equipment for naval defense and commercial nuclear customers. The planned expansion therefore concerns capacity serving those existing markets rather than a newly announced product line.
The company’s $80 million commitment is described as a multi-year private investment. Pennsylvania’s announced role is an economic-development incentive package, with the PA SITES grant identified as a proposal. The announcement does not say that the proposed grant has been finally awarded or paid.
Jobs target and existing workforce
The 150 positions are an expected job-creation total over three years, rather than an immediate hiring count. The administration also said the project would retain more than 860 existing jobs, making the announced employment figure a combination of projected new positions and a separate retention claim.
No job titles, wages, hiring schedule or job-site construction timetable were included in the announcement. Those details would be needed to assess how the planned employment growth is distributed across manufacturing, testing or other operations at the campus.
For Allegheny County, the project represents a planned expansion at an operating industrial site. For the company, the stated benefit is added manufacturing and testing space. For the Commonwealth, the proposed grant is public economic-development support tied to a private-sector investment and projected employment commitments; the announcement does not provide final terms for other potential incentives.
Statewide investment claim carries qualification
The Shapiro administration said it has attracted more than $41 billion in private-sector investment and more than 24,000 jobs statewide since taking office. That is an administration-reported aggregate and was not presented in the announcement as an independently audited total.
The Curtiss-Wright project is one of the investments the administration is citing as part of its broader business-development strategy. Its progress will depend on the company carrying out its multi-year investment, construction of the two planned buildings and the terms and disposition of the proposed state support.
The next known milestone in the announcement is not a specific construction or hiring date. Instead, the near-term outstanding issue is whether the proposed PA SITES funding and any additional incentives move from announced support to finalized awards.
Sources
- Creating Jobs in Allegheny County: Governor Shapiro Secures $80 Million Investment from Curtiss-Wright, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
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