American companies announced roughly 244,000 reshoring and foreign-investment manufacturing jobs in each of the last two years, up from about 11,000 a year in 2010, and 60% of those jobs landed in the South. Manufacturing construction spending peaked in late 2024 at a record annual rate of about $250 billion and has since fallen roughly 30%. Those two facts are not in conflict. The buildings are up. What is happening now is fit-out: the stage where a shell becomes a plant, and where conveyors, material handling and process structure get bought and installed.
Plant enclosed and the conveyor package not yet awarded? Call 601.892.5017 or email sales@fabtekindustries.com — we engineer supports while the floor is still open.
- ~244,000 reshoring and FDI jobs announced in each of 2024 and 2025; 60% in the South; Mississippi in the top seven with the largest average project size (Reshoring Initiative).
- Manufacturing construction peaked at ~$250B SAAR in September 2024 and was ~31% lower by mid-2026 (Census C30) — projects moved from heavy civil into fit-out.
- Fit-out is when conveyors, racks, platforms and enclosures are specified, bought and installed; the 2022–2024 building wave is a 2025–2028 equipment cycle.
- Fit-out schedules are compressed: the suppliers that help engineer and fabricate in parallel, build conveyor and structure as one package, and install with their own crews.
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- Sanitary & Washdown Conveyors for Poultry, Meat & Food
- How to Get a Conveyor Quote From FabTek
The construction number is falling because the plants are being equipped
Construction spending counts site work, foundations, steel and envelope. It drops as projects move into equipment installation and commissioning even when everything is on schedule. A plant announced in 2022 and enclosed in 2024 is specifying conveyors in 2025 and 2026. For material handling suppliers and the plants that need them, this is the busy part of the cycle, and the material handling industry's own 2026 outlook calls for continued growth in equipment orders driven by reshoring, automation and rising labor costs. The figures above come from the Reshoring Initiative annual data and the Census Bureau's monthly construction spending (C30) release.
Why the Southeast, and why Mississippi
The South took 60% of announced reshoring jobs in 2024. Mississippi ranked in the top seven states with the largest average project size in the country, and was third in early-2025 announcements. Those projects need conveyors, racks, platforms, enclosures and structural steel from somewhere, and a fabricator within a day's drive, with its own installation crews, is faster and cheaper to work with than one shipping from across the country or across an ocean. We wrote about the pattern behind the state's momentum in Why Manufacturing Capital Keeps Choosing Mississippi.
What fit-out needs from a material handling partner
Fit-out schedules are compressed, because the building is finished and the business case assumes production on a date. The suppliers that help are the ones that can engineer and fabricate in parallel, build the conveyor and the structure that holds it as one package, install with their own crews rather than waiting on a subcontractor, and commission alongside the process equipment vendors. At FabTek that is the standard scope: conveyors and bulk handling, support steel and platforms, racks and enclosures, all fabricated in Mississippi — Built in the U.S.A.
What to do if you are mid-project
If your plant is enclosed and the conveyor package is not yet awarded, send the layout and material data now. Lead times for fabricated conveyor and structure are weeks, not the year-plus lead times of switchgear and transformers, but shop capacity across the region is filling. Early engagement lets us engineer the supports while the floor is still accessible and schedule crews around your other trades. Here is what to send.
Frequently asked questions
Is reshoring actually happening?
Yes. More than two million reshoring and foreign-investment manufacturing jobs have been announced since 2010, and about 1.7 million have been filled, according to the Reshoring Initiative.
Why has manufacturing construction spending dropped if reshoring is growing?
Because the 2022–2024 construction wave is moving into fit-out and commissioning. Construction spending falls as plants move from building to equipping, which is when conveyors and material handling are installed.
How long does conveyor fit-out take?
Small modular systems install in a few weeks; large integrated systems take several months including engineering, fabrication, installation and commissioning. Starting while the building is still open shortens the schedule.
