ABB Puts $50 Million Into a New Selmer Plant, Adding 227 Jobs

SELMER, Tenn. — ABB will relocate and expand its Industrial Connections & Solutions operation in McNairy County, creating 227 new jobs and investing $50 million, Gov. Bill Lee and the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development announced Nov. 5.

The operation will move from 4th Street to a new 120,000-square-foot building at the Selmer/McNairy Industrial Park, where it will make and distribute busway and bus plug systems, among other electrical products. Adrian Guggisberg, ABB's distribution solutions president, said the project supports the company's "local-for-local strategy" in the U.S. The new building sits beside a 325,000-square-foot ABB plant that the state describes as recently completed. Selmer Mayor John Smith said the company began in the community more than five decades ago.

Location Decision analysis: The job count stands out. When ABB announced the neighboring plant in March 2025, it said 50 new jobs would raise its Selmer workforce by more than 25%, which implies fewer than 200 workers there at the time (50 divided by 0.25). If that base still roughly holds, 227 new jobs would more than double ABB's Selmer payroll. That inference rests on a 20-month-old statement, because the new release gives no current Selmer headcount. It makes local labor supply the question to ask, and the release names no training partner.

The two Selmer projects differ sharply on jobs. The 2025 state release listed $76 million and 50 jobs, about $1.52 million per job. This one is $50 million and 227 jobs, about $220,000 per job. Those ratios compare company announcements only and say nothing about wages or output. The first project's figures have also moved: ABB said $80 million and 320,000 square feet in 2025, and the state now says $100 million, more than 50 jobs and 325,000 square feet, without explaining the change.

The state says about 90% of equipment and employees will start moving to the 325,000-square-foot plant in the first half of 2027, with the rest going to the new building in the second half. Because existing 4th Street workers are moving too, the useful number will be net Selmer employment after the move. The release counts 227 as new jobs but gives no hiring schedule. Its highlights box says "225+ jobs" while the text says 227.

The state credits Site Development Grants to the industrial park in 2022 and 2024 and gives no amounts. It states no incentive for this building. TVA and Pickwick Electric Cooperative are named as partners, with no power figures.

WBBJ, Nov. 5: ABB expanding in McNairy County, adding more than 200 jobs

State announcement questions: The release lists Chris O'Brien, public information officer at the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development, at [email protected] and 615-934-5879.

Checked Nov. 6, 2026, against the release. No ABB hiring or supplier contact is confirmed here.