The announcement
The biggest industrial news of the summer for the northeast Georgia corridor happened just up the road from Mulberry. On August 7, 2026, Governor Brian Kemp announced that Siemens will build a new advanced manufacturing facility near Pendergrass in Jackson County, at the Raco Parkway site just off the interstate. The company's announcement cites an investment of at least $185 million, with a facility planned at roughly 550,000 square feet.
The product matters as much as the number: low-voltage electrical components and distribution equipment, which Siemens describes as its low-voltage U.S. manufacturing hub for the data-center market. That positions Pendergrass inside the build-out of data center and cloud infrastructure, one of the fastest-growing industrial currents in the Southeast.
The numbers, timed out
The announcement says the plant will create more than 1,400 jobs over roughly three years across engineering, fabrication, assembly and testing. Construction is expected to begin in November 2026, with hiring planned to start in 2027. Read it the way any plant announcement should be read: this is a schedule, not a ribbon cutting, and the jobs arrive on the build-out cadence, not the press release.
What it means for Mulberry
For Mulberry the relevant facts are the site and the drive. The relocation notes peg Pendergrass at about 25 to 30 minutes from Mulberry on a normal day, most of it on I-85, which is why the city already sits near the center of the corridor's employer map: Amazon and Fox Factory in Braselton, SK Battery in Commerce, Kubota across Jefferson and Gainesville, and now Siemens at the Pendergrass interchange.
The measured read is unchanged: an announcement this size strengthens the region's employment base over the long run, and the jobs climb on a multi-year schedule. The full commute and employer table is on the relocation guide, and the running corridor brief lives on the Jackson County page.
Two questions, answered straight
How far is the Pendergrass plant from Mulberry?
About 25 to 30 minutes on a normal day, most of it on Interstate 85, per the site's own commute notes. Traffic concentrates at shift changes, so treat the range as a planning number, not a promise. The full table is on the relocation guide.
Will this news move Mulberry prices?
Not overnight, and not because of the headline. The 1,400 jobs climb on a build-out that starts later this year, and hiring is planned to begin in 2027. A plant strengthens the area's employment base over the long run; a purchase should still be priced to today's comps, in a district you can verify.
Sources
Figures as stated in the Governor's announcement of August 7, 2026, the Georgia Department of Economic Development release, and the Siemens US manufacturing announcement. Investment, job and square-footage figures are as stated by the company and the state, not estimates.
Written by
Rob Dietrich
Georgia REALTOR® with eXp Realty, AI Certified Real Estate Strategist, serving Gwinnett, Hall, Barrow and Jackson counties.
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