Hall County’s Kubota Manufacturing of America (KMA) plant may have more than 50 welding robots and 80 automated guided vehicles, but there’s going to be a continuing need for trained workers, according to Tim Evans, vice president, economic development, at the Greater Hall County Chamber of Commerce.
Mr. Evans told Global Atlanta that the company’s new 502,000 square foot facility where it is manufacturing KPS (Kubota Production System) utility vehicles eventually will require 600 or so more employees bringing the number of KMA and the Kubota Industrial Equipment Corp. workers to 3,000 or so in Gainesville and Jefferson in next door Jackson County. The company also operates another plant off Ramsey Road in Gainesville.
A grand opening of the new facility at the Gateway Industrial Centre in Gainesville was held in April and was attended by both Kubota and state officials, including Masatoshi Kimata, president and representative director of Kubota Corp., Gov. Nathan Deal and Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle. In addition, Takashi Shinozuka, Japan’s consul general based in Atlanta, and Hall County Commission Chairman Richard Higgins attended.
Mr. Evans said Kubota committed $100 million for its new facility, which already is in operation and frees up 250,000 square feet of space at its company’s operations nearby where formerly utility vehicles were produced but will now become a manufacturing site for mowers.
Headquartered in Osaka, Japan, the company established in 1972 the Kubota Tractor Corp., a tractor sales company and began sending to the U.S. law mowers and equipment for light construction applications. It now sells a wide variety of utility vehicles including compact tractors manufactured in the U.S.
In the mid-1980s Kubota opened its current Southeast division headquarters in Suwanee. Later in the 1980s it expanded its operations in Georgia establishing KMA in Gainesville and its National Distribution Center in Jefferson, currently also undergoing expansion, and Kubota Industrial Equipment also in Jefferson, where it produces loaders and backhoes.
Mr. Evans said that the company already is preparing for future growth and has an industrial pad of over 1 million-square-feet ready for its next expansion. Its presence in Hall County, he added, also has attracted a number of Japanese suppliers.
To reach the Great Hall County Chamber of Commerce, click here.
The Pendleton Group is the presenting sponsor of Global Atlanta's Economic Development Channel. Subscribe here for monthly Economic Development newsletters.