Related equipment on CasterHQ: Manufacturing casters. CasterHQ supplies casters and wheels for plant floors; it does not build IEM switchgear or power distribution gear.
Industrial Electric Mfg. (IEM) makes custom power distribution and control systems — the switchgear, switchboards and related gear that feed power into plants, hospitals, data rooms and other critical sites. This story is about a new Texas plant plan, not about a caster product launch and not about a claim that every announced job is already hired.
On Aug. 25, 2026, IEM said it will invest $200 million in a new manufacturing facility in San Antonio, Texas. The plant is described as about 1 million square feet at Brooks City Base in southeast San Antonio — the former Brooks Air Force Base campus. CEO Clayton Such said the city workforce, infrastructure and economic-development partners made San Antonio a natural next site.
Jobs clock, as printed by the company and the state: up to 3,000 jobs by 2030 across manufacturing, engineering, logistics and corporate support. IEM says the facility will be developed in phases, with construction and hiring timelines to be announced later. Say that plainly — the big square-footage and job headlines are out; the shovel and hire dates are not yet on the calendar in these releases.
Existing North American footprint named by IEM: Fremont, California; Jacksonville, Florida; and Surrey, British Columbia. Including this project, IEM says it has added more than 3 million square feet of product-development and manufacturing space and invested $300 million over the past five years. Those figures are company claims that fold in the San Antonio plan.
Texas distinction that buyers and local readers mix up: Governor Greg Abbott’s office said a Texas Enterprise Fund (TEF) grant of $3.36 million was extended to IEM for 448 of the new jobs. That is not the same number as the “up to 3,000 by 2030” headline. TEF covers a defined slice of jobs under a performance-based state grant; the larger figure is the company’s overall facility target.
What this is not: a finished plant already shipping switchboards from Brooks, a locked construction start date in these press pages, or a claim that TEF money equals 3,000 funded positions. Power products named in the state release include power distribution systems, remote power panels, switchgear and switchboards.
What to do with this
If IEM is on your power-gear bid list, ask which North American plant will build your next order while San Antonio is still phased, and when Brooks capacity is expected to take load. Do not put a 2030 headcount target on a 2026 purchase order. If you are tracking Texas incentives, separate the TEF $3.36 million / 448-job figure from the up-to-3,000 job claim.
Limits
$200 million investment, 1-million-square-foot plant, Brooks City Base / southeast San Antonio location, up to 3,000 jobs by 2030, phased development with timelines to be announced, existing Fremont / Jacksonville / Surrey footprint, >3 million sqft and $300 million over five years (including this project), and Clayton Such quotes are from IEM’s Aug. 25, 2026 news story. TEF $3.36 million for 448 jobs is from the Texas Governor’s Aug. 25, 2026 release. Job and investment totals are company or government claims, not desk-verified payroll. Construction and hiring dates were not published in these primaries. CasterHQ does not manufacture IEM equipment. The photograph is electrical switchgear stand-in from Wikimedia Commons; it is not an IEM product or the Brooks City Base plant.
Sources
- IEM, 25 August 2026: IEM announces $200 million San Antonio manufacturing facility
- Office of the Texas Governor, 25 August 2026: Governor Abbott announces IEM expansion in Bexar County
