North Carolina Defense Contractor Plans $95 Million Factory, 423 New Jobs Near Charlotte

A North Carolina defense contractor that began as a small engineering firm is preparing another major expansion, with plans to invest $95 million in a new manufacturing facility and create 423 jobs near Charlotte.

Corvid Technologies will build a 400,000-square-foot factory at its headquarters in Mooresville, about 30 miles north of Charlotte. The facility will manufacture vehicle launch systems and expand the company’s engineering and production operations.

The investment, announced Tuesday, Oct. 13, by North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein, is expected to bring jobs paying an average of $81,550 annually, approximately 26% above the Iredell County average.

The company plans to add the positions over the next four years, with the expansion targeted for completion by the end of 2030.

Corvid already employs approximately 382 people in Mooresville. If the hiring plans are fully realized, the expansion could more than double its local workforce.

From Computer Simulations to Manufacturing Military Equipment

Corvid was founded in 2004 as a company specializing in computational modeling and simulation.

Its engineers used advanced physics and high-performance computing to study how materials, vehicles and other complex systems behave under extreme conditions.

That work eventually expanded from computer simulations into physical testing, prototyping and manufacturing.

Today, Corvid develops technologies for missile defense, aerospace, military systems and motorsports. Its engineering work includes structural mechanics, fluid dynamics, shock physics and specialized testing.

The company’s rapid growth is visible at its Mooresville campus.

In July 2025, Corvid opened a 250,000-square-foot manufacturing facility, adding production space for its engineering and defense programs.

The newly announced factory represents another significant increase in manufacturing capacity.

David Robinson, Corvid’s president and CEO, said the company’s manufacturing footprint has grown from 8,000 square feet to 800,000 square feet in approximately two and a half years.

The expansion reflects a shift in Corvid’s business model. Rather than concentrating primarily on engineering calculations and technical designs, the company is increasingly building the equipment those designs support.

That transition also follows substantial federal defense work.

In February 2025, the U.S. Department of Defense awarded Corvid a Navy contract with a potential value of $268.4 million for designing, manufacturing and delivering short- and medium-range suborbital vehicles, along with testing equipment, engineering and launch-support services.

The contract includes work supporting the U.S. Navy and military customers in Australia and the United Kingdom.

The Navy contract and the newly announced factory are separate developments, and the company has not specified which contracts will occupy the additional manufacturing capacity.

Jobs Will Range From Assembly Work to Advanced Engineering

The 423 planned positions will cover a broad range of occupations.

Corvid expects to hire assemblers, electricians, engineers, production managers, technicians and equipment testers.

More specialized positions are expected to include manufacturing engineers, electromechanical technicians and other technical roles involved in producing and testing defense equipment.

That combination could offer opportunities for workers with different educational backgrounds, from skilled-trade credentials and technical training to advanced engineering degrees.

The average annual salary of $81,550 exceeds Iredell County’s average of $64,895 by approximately $16,655.

Individual salaries will vary by occupation. The average does not establish starting pay for assemblers or technicians, and the company has not announced how the 423 positions will be divided among job categories.

Once all positions are filled, the company could generate approximately $34.5 million in additional annual payroll.

The expansion also brings another major industrial employer to Mooresville, a community traditionally associated with NASCAR racing teams, automotive engineering and the Lake Norman business corridor.

Corvid’s work in motorsports and advanced physics has connections to that existing technical workforce, although defense manufacturing requires additional specialized capabilities.

North Carolina’s community college system and Mitchell Community College are among the organizations supporting the project.

North Carolina Offers Millions in Incentives

The expansion will receive public support tied to investment and employment commitments.

North Carolina’s Economic Investment Committee approved a Job Development Investment Grant authorizing up to $4,449,750 in potential reimbursements over 12 years.

The money is not an immediate payment to the company.

Under the agreement, Corvid must meet annual job-creation and capital-investment targets before the state makes performance-based payments.

Mooresville and Iredell County have also offered combined property-tax incentives valued at approximately $6.4 million, while workforce training assistance is valued at about $900,000, Business North Carolina reported.

The state’s economic analysis estimates that the investment could generate $1.7 billion in additional economic activity over the 12-year grant period.

That figure is a projection rather than money the company has committed to spend. The actual capital investment announced for the expansion is $95 million.

The state agreement also includes a provision directing as much as $1.48 million into North Carolina’s Industrial Development Fund Utility Account, which supports infrastructure improvements in rural communities.

The public incentives come with a noteworthy history. In 2018, Corvid announced an earlier headquarters project involving $28.9 million in investment and 367 planned jobs.

That project also received a state incentive agreement. In September 2026, the company terminated the earlier agreement and repaid $126,745 in grants after determining it could not satisfy the original job-creation targets.

The repayment was a condition of becoming eligible for the new state grant.

Corvid reported having invested $95 million under the earlier project despite falling short of its employment commitments.

The new agreement establishes a separate set of investment and hiring targets, which will be subject to annual verification.

North Carolina Wins Project Over Alabama and Ohio

Corvid considered expansion locations in Huntsville, Alabama, and Batavia, Ohio, before deciding to build at its existing Mooresville headquarters.

The decision followed consideration of available workers, infrastructure, utility capacity, incentives and the company’s long-term operating requirements.

The competition illustrates the importance that defense-related manufacturing has gained in economic development across the Southeast.

Huntsville already has a substantial aerospace and defense industry, supported by Redstone Arsenal, NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center and numerous military contractors.

North Carolina, meanwhile, has developed its own network of military installations, research universities, engineering businesses and advanced manufacturers.

Corvid maintains operations in Huntsville and other locations, including Tucson, Arizona, and White Sands, New Mexico.

Its decision to concentrate the new manufacturing investment in Mooresville builds on the facilities and workforce already established there.

State and company leaders also discussed expansion opportunities during the Farnborough International Airshow in England earlier this year.

Expansion Expected Through 2030

The new factory will substantially increase Corvid’s ability to manufacture and test large, complex defense systems at its North Carolina headquarters.

The company expects to complete its planned investment and hiring expansion by the end of 2030.

Specific construction milestones and the annual hiring schedule have not yet been established publicly.

For prospective workers, that means the announcement represents a multiyear employment commitment rather than 423 positions necessarily available immediately.

The factory will also add to a growing concentration of manufacturing activity around the Charlotte metropolitan area, where industrial development has expanded beyond traditional automotive and consumer-product manufacturing.

Corvid’s growth is particularly striking because the company began with engineering simulations rather than large-scale production.

Its expansion into manufacturing reflects the increasing demand for contractors capable of designing, testing and building specialized military equipment within the same organization.

The next four years will determine how fully that transformation translates into new employment, production capacity and economic activity in Mooresville.