A German-based company that makes products to protect electronic systems from power surges announced Tuesday it would invest $38.6 million and create 195 jobs in making Mooresville its new headquarters for the Americas.
DEHN will bring production, research and training to the headquarters site, says Philipp Dehn, who represents the fourth generation of the 114-year-old family-owned business based in Bavaria.
Manufacturing should begin within two years, although some employees will be hired immediately. Wages for the new positions will average $66,120, which is higher than the current average wage in Iredell County of $63,674.
A standalone manufacturing site will be built, and the headquarters will be located in a space within the 1.1 million-square-feet Merino Mill, a former textile mill dating back to 1893 that now houses retail, restaurants and other businesses.
DEHN will occupy approximately 10,000-square-feet of space at the renovated mill, and has an option on another 20,000-square-feet inside the former mill.
“Finally we can say Mooresville is our home and really start to push forward,” says Ingo Rutenberg, CEO for DEHN USA, who is currently based in Ottawa, Canada. DEHN’s current operations in the U.S. involves a sales office that has been located in Fort Pierce, Florida, for 20 years, says Rutenberg. The Mooresville headquarters will serve markets in the U.S., Canada, Mexico and Latin America, says Rutenberg.
“About two years ago we asked ourselves, ‘What is it really going to take to penetrate the U.S. market?’” says Rutenberg. That began a site-selection search that involved 15 states and more than 380 locations, says Christian Mies, a DEHN project manager based in Germany who oversaw the search. “It got to be Mooresville in the end,” says Mies.
DEHN does about $5 million to $6 million worth of business in the U.S. now, says Dehn. He says the company expects that number to increase to more than $100 million within the next seven years. In the same time frame, he says, DEHN hopes to grow from a $500 million company to a $1.2 billion company.
“It sounds a little like a dream, but we think we are realistic dreamers,” says Dehn.
“The world is getting more and more electrified,” added Dehn. The company sells its products to other companies. Those products protect electric vehicle chargers, solar farms, nuclear plants and entire buildings from power surges, including those from lightning strikes.
DEHN now has about 2,500 employees operating in 27 countries and selling products in about 90 countries, Dehn says. About 60% of the employees are based in Germany, he added. The electrical engineering and manufacturing company holds more than 1,100 patents.
More than 20 company employees – many of them from Germany – attended the announcement.
DEHN’s project in North Carolina was helped by a state grant of $1.17 million, to be paid in increments over the next 12 years. The state calculates DEHN will contribute about $523 million to the state’s economy during that time.
Mooresville, with a population of about 55,000 residents, is the fastest-growing city in North Carolina, says Mooresville Mayor Chris Carney. Located about 25 miles north of Charlotte, the Iredell County town had about 9,000 residents in the 1990s.