Amanda Goodall had identified about 31 roles tagged Iowa as of Oct. 1, covering construction, procurement, permitting and other functions. The procurement manager listing was marked remote in Iowa but said the hire would be “based in Paducah, Kentucky.” Layoff AI reported that Mesabi established a Kentucky subsidiary in 2025 and filed plans with state regulators in August for a steel plant there. It also challenged President Donald Trump’s statement that “they've already started building” and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick’s assertion that “this deal is done,” reporting that the Iowa project had no site, permit, land purchase or binding contract.
Iowa approved $1.36 billion in incentives for the mill, which is owned by India’s Essar. Trump announced the project Sept. 28, with production planned to begin in 2030. The mill is projected to create 1,750 permanent jobs and support up to 6,000 construction jobs, initially producing 7.5 million tons of steel annually and eventually about 10 million tons using ore from Mesabi’s Minnesota mine.