ABB has ‘future proofed’ Fort Smith electric motor production

While it has had a decline in employment from the days when it was Baldor’s corporate headquarters, the ABB operation in Fort Smith remains the global base of the company’s motors division and is the largest “NEMA” motors production plant in the United States.

Prior to being acquired in early 2011 by Zurich, Switzerland-based ABB in a $4.2 billion deal, Fort Smith-based Baldor employed between 7,000 and 7,500 in 26 plants in five countries and sales offices in more than 80 countries. About 2,000 were then employed in the Fort Smith area. Baldor was founded in St. Louis in 1920 and moved its corporate headquarters to Fort Smith in the early 1960s.

ABB is a global company involved in electrification and automation, with a focus on energy- and resource-efficient products and solutions. The company has more than 140 years of history and about 110,000 employees worldwide.

ABB now employs approximately 1,165 people in Fort Smith — a job number that has “remained relatively steady in the past five years,” according to the company. ABB also has 250 employees at its Ozark production plant. Additionally, ABB has a motor production facility in Westville, Okla., that has 351 employees.

The company is advertising that it is hiring in Fort Smith, with production jobs having a starting pay range of $16 to $23 per hour, and maintenance jobs having a pay range of $22 to $26 per hour.

THE MOTOR MARKET
NEMA motors meet standards set by the National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA), and ABB manufactures more than 5,000 such motors a day at its Fort Smith plant, according to answers provided by the Little Rock-based Communications Group on behalf of ABB.

The company has in recent years expanded production capacity in Fort Smith to produce its high-efficiency motors and the integrated motor drives used in industrial settings. It is also increasing production capacity in Ozark and Westville.

“ABB has ‘future proofed’ its manufacturing facilities to allow for increases in production capacity without the need for physical facility expansion,” ABB noted when asked about research or production changes in Fort Smith.

Of the motors made in Fort Smith, 70% are sold in the U.S. market, 11% are sold in Canada, and 3% are sold in Mexico, according to ABB. Primary metals used to make the motors include cast iron, aluminum and stainless steel.

ABB IN THE U.S.
ABB revenue in the U.S. market was just under $9 billion in 2024, or about 27% of total revenue. ABB reports having 17,000 employees in the U.S. with about 40 manufacturing, distribution, and operational facilities in 20 states.

ABB recently announced $120 million in U.S. market investments to expand production of its low voltage electrification products. ABB expects to create 50 new jobs at a new advanced manufacturing facility in Selmer, Tenn., and will double the size of its existing manufacturing site in Senatobia, Miss., creating 200 new jobs.

“Demand is increasing steadily for advanced electrification technologies, driven by growth in key sectors including data centers and utilities. … Our new facilities in Selmer and Senatobia will keep our U.S. customers at the cutting edge of the energy transition, and help them meet their performance, productivity, and energy efficiency goals,” ABB CEO Morten Wierod said in a statement.

ABB has invested in the past three years more than $500 million in U.S. operations, including opening a new $100 million manufacturing facility and innovation lab for industrial electric drives in New Berlin, Wisc., in October 2024. A new $40 million ABB factory will open in Albuquerque, N.M., in April 2025, to manufacture the latest technologies for power grid hardening and resilience.