Japanese tractor manufacturer Kubota Industrial Equipment on April 8 opened a $73 million factory that is to create 200 jobs in Jefferson.
Gov. Nathan Deal attended a grand-opening celebration at the 522,000-square-foot factory, which sits on an 88-acre site. The plant is producing 30- to 50-horsepower compact tractors, with plans to ramp up to an annual capacity of 22,000 units.
Kubota began doing business in Georgia nearly four decades ago, just after the state opened its economic-development office in Tokyo.
The office is this year celebrating its 40th anniversary. Yumiko Nakazono, who has been the state’s representative in Japan for more than half that time, was scheduled to attend the Kubota celebration during a visit to Georgia. In a recent interview in Atlanta, she highlighted the company as a clear sign of healthy business ties between Georgia and Japan.
Kubota’s Georgia operations started with an office in Norcross before moving to a regional headquarters in Suwanee in the mid-1980s. Now, the company employs more than 1,700 people at its Kubota Manufacturing of America plant in Gainesville and a national distribution center in Jefferson along with the recently opened facility there, according to a news release.
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