A construction equipment unit of South Korea‘s Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. Ltd. will spend $10 million in moving its Americas headquarters from Chicago to metro Atlanta.
Hyundai Construction Equipment Americas Inc. is expected to create 100 jobs over the next five years at the consolidated headquarters, a 220,000-square-foot building in Norcross that also includes warehouse space.
The new headquarters will house finance, sales, remanufacturing and service operations. The 20-year-old company makes excavators, forestry machines and wheel loaders.
Metro Atlanta was selected in part for its transportation assets, though the dynamism of the Southeast U.S. was also a major factor, according to Peter Underwood, who heads up Georgia’s economic office in Seoul.
“Synergy from co-locating their headquarters and their logistics hub, access to a quality workforce, low operating costs and quality of life issues all played a part,” said Mr. Underwood, who funnels leads to the Georgia Department of Economic Development.
The ability to access markets throughout the Western Hemisphere was also vital.
“Given that this is the headquarters of the Americas, we needed a location that was strategically located not only for access to markets in the Southeastern United States but South and Central America as well,” said John Lim, the company’s president, in a news release from Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal‘s office.
The building will be operational by the third quarter, according to the release.
Gwinnett County is already home to one large Korean construction equipment maker, Doosan Infracore America Corp., based in Suwanee.
Visit www.hceamericas.com for more information.
