A Dutch manufacturer of lightweight conveyance systems for factories and other settings will invest $19 million in Hall County, hiring 83 at a new factory.
Ammeraal Beltech, a more than 70-year-old firm with sales in 150 countries, is based in the city of Heerhugowaard in the Netherlands’ North Holland province. It’s part of the Ammega Group, formed by a merger with Megadyne last year.
The plant will be located in the part of Buford, Ga., that lies in southern Hall County. Operations are expected to begin in the fall, and hiring has already begun. [See jobs here]
“We are excited to have Ammeraal Beltech join the community of global manufacturing companies in Hall County and Georgia,” Tim Evans, vice president of economic development for the Greater Hall Chamber of Commerce, said in a news release issued by the Georgia department of Economic Development. “We will support their team as they grow their North American presence with this new location.”
Georgia Power and the department’s Taylor Walden also worked on the project.
Tom Doring, president of the Americas for Ammeraal Beltech, said the new outpost, which joins other facilities in Illinois, Pennsylvania and Texas, is a localization effort meant to better serve end users.
The Netherlands is a top investor in Georgia. A new consulate general from the country opened in 2019, promising to increase two-way investment and focus as much on bringing Dutch companies to Georgia and the Southeast as the other way around.
Ard Van der Vorst, the Dutch consul general, called the company “truly a state of the art company” and welcomed the investment.
“It’s indeed good news and I congratulate the Georgia Department of Economic Development and the Dutch company Ammeraal Beltech. The Netherlands has been a proven business partner to Georgia. It’s good to see that we’re moving forward and strengthening our business ties by adding additional jobs in Buford.”
Much of the Dutch outreach so far has focused on financial technology and other service sectors, but logistics has been a key point for partnership, and many Dutch manufacturers are already located in the state, even in Hall County: VDL Groep, which makes precision metal components, invested $17 million to set up a factory there in 2018, pledging to hire 110 people.
Other Dutch investments abound: Fokker Aerospace makes parts near the Atlanta airport. Baggage conveyance system manufacturer Vanderlande Industries has a factory and North American headquarters in Georgia, and Thomas Regout Inc. put a $2 million assembly plant in Cherokee County in 2019.
Connect with the consulate here or learn more about Dutch investment via the Netherlands-American Chamber of Commerce Southeast here.
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