Corning Optical Communications is expanding again in North Carolina, with plans to invest $176 million in Catawba and Cabarrus counties and create more than 400 jobs. The total includes $67 million for a new optical-cable plant in Newton, creating 210 jobs, and $109 million for a fiber-plant expansion in Midland that will add 200 jobs. The new jobs will pay an average annual wage of $56,963 in Catawba County and $58,146 in Cabarrus County.