Eaton to Add 300 Jobs at Buncombe County Manufacturing Facilities

Eaton announced plans Monday to add roughly 300 jobs at its Arden and Avery Creek manufacturing facilities over the next 12 months, targeting positions in low-voltage assembly and other advanced manufacturing lines as customer demand pushes the company to expand its south Buncombe footprint. The company currently employs nearly 1,500 workers across the two plants and has maintained a presence in the Asheville area since 1977, when the facility first operated as Westinghouse Electric.

Susana Guillen, plant manager for the Arden facility, described the expansion in a written statement as a test of what the local workforce can deliver. "It brings challenges that our team will overcome with help from our Asheville-area community," Guillen said. "We have a great product and a great workforce and will need to fill more well-paying positions to satisfy our customers' needs. These growth opportunities come from a long-standing tradition and culture here in Asheville of quality products that our customers continue to expect from us."

The company described the new roles as high-wage and high-tech at a moment when Buncombe County's 2026 living wage benchmark, set by the nonprofit Just Economics WNC, stands at $24.10 an hour. That figure, up from $23.15 in 2025, represents what a single worker needs to earn to qualify for a one-bedroom apartment in the county. Recent Eaton assembly and fabrication postings at the Avery Creek and Arden sites have listed hourly rates from roughly $19.50 for entry-level second-shift assemblers to $26.50 for electrical testers on specialized weekend schedules, placing many roles at or above the living wage line.

Buncombe County Commission Chair Amanda Edwards issued a written statement supporting the announcement, saying the addition of advanced manufacturing careers expands high-tech, high-wage pathways for local families, an explicit priority for county officials trying to stabilize household incomes in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene.

Workers looking for an early entry point have a specific target: Eaton and local workforce officials pointed to the WNC Career Expo in mid-April as the first in-person hiring opportunity, with additional openings being posted on a rolling basis at jobs.eaton.com. Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College, which offers industrial and career-and-technical education programs aligned with the assembly, inspection, and fabrication skill sets Eaton recruits, is positioned as a natural pipeline for candidates who need credentials before applying.

The expansion will add weight to an Arden and Avery Creek corridor that already concentrates a significant share of Buncombe County's manufacturing employment. Three hundred additional workers commuting to the south side means more pressure on Hendersonville Road morning traffic, increased demand for workforce housing within reach of both plants, and new orders flowing to the local suppliers and service vendors that support Eaton's production lines. For a region still tallying the economic damage from Helene, 300 jobs at a 49-year-old anchor employer is a different kind of stabilizer than the retail or hospitality recovery that has dominated the headlines since the storm.