Oracle Is Moving Manufacturing Jobs to US From Mexico

02/20/2013| 06:12pm US/Eastern

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   By Steven D. Jones 
 

Oracle Corp. (>> Oracle Corporation) is joining the growing wave of companies moving manufacturing jobs back to the U.S.

Redwood City, Calif.-based Oracle will move 130 jobs manufacturing its Exadata engineered systems to Hillsboro, Ore., from Mexico. The move comes after receiving a $1.4 million package of incentives and loans from Oregon's business expansion program, the state's governor announced Wednesday.

After decades of outsourcing, companies such as Apple Inc. (>> Apple Inc.), Caterpillar Inc. (>> Caterpillar Inc.), Ford Motor Co. (F) and Whirlpool Corp. (>> Whirlpool Corporation) are making more goods in the U.S. again. Cheap energy, the weak dollar, steady wages and proximity to U.S. customers and suppliers are attracting some of the business.

Larry Ellison, chairman of Oracle, said in a May 2012 interview at the All Things D technology conference that the company was "doing as much manufacturing in the U.S. as we can."

"We are actually doing a lot of high-end manufacturing in Hillsboro, Oregon," Mr. Ellison said in response to a question at the conference. "We are doing a lot of our engineered systems there, in the U.S."

Oracle has two Hillsboro manufacturing plants that the company acquired in its 2010 acquisition of Sun Microsystems.

Another factor that is leading manufacturing back to the U.S. is incentives. Oregon offered Oracle a forgivable loan of $750,000, plus funds from its business expansion program. The deal requires the company to add 130 new full-time jobs and retain 300 over the next two years.

Oracle is "just the latest example of an industry leader choosing to 'onshore' in our state," Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber said in a press statement.

In December, the state extended Nike Inc. (>> NIKE, Inc.) a deal that ensures the company's state taxes will be calculated in the same way for the next 30 years, regardless of future changes in tax law. In exchange, Nike agreed to invest $150 million in expansion and add 500 new jobs.

Write to Steven D. Jones at steve-d.jones@dowjones.com

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