Leigh Miller for GlobalAtlanta
Japanese steel manufacturer Suzukaku KK began construction Oct. 30 on its first U.S. facility in Haralson County, some 40 miles west of Atlanta.

The $10 million, 35,000 square-foot plant in the Georgia West Business Park near Buchanan is to make steel parts for motor sport manufacturers in Georgia.

Called Suzukaku Co. Ltd. USA, the company is to initially hire 21 employees and is to create 48 jobs over the next five years.

“We are very pleased with the opportunity this location presents us to employ qualified workers and to give us access to our markets,” said Project Leader Yoshiyuki Yamamoto of Suzukaku Co. Ltd.

Suzukaku chose Haralson County because it is conveniently located in relation to the company’s suppliers, Joan Young, executive director of the Haralson County Development Authority, told GlobalAtlanta.

“Another reason they came here is because we have other Japanese companies, so there’s an understanding of Japanese culture in the county,” she said, referring to two Japanese manufacturers in Haralson County.

Honda Lock-America Inc., a supplier to Japan-based Honda Motor Co.’s auto manufacturing facility in eastern Alabama, located in the county in 1998. It now has 700 employees in its $90 million facility, Ms. Young said. Honda Precision Parts of Georgia LLC, also a supplier to Honda Manufacturing of Alabama LLC in Lincoln, Ala., is constructing a $100 million plant in Tallapoosa in Haralson County, she added.

Suzukaku has been in business in Japan since 1913, and Suzukaku Co. Ltd. was formally established in Shizuoka Prefecture in Japan in 1982. Suzukaku produces fabricated steel for use in construction, bridges, motorcycles and transport containers.

Contact Ms. Young at (770) 537-5266 or visit www.haralsoncounty.org.