Toyota Industries creates 320 jobs in Jackson County
Leading automotive manufacturer opening Pendergrass compressor plant, investing $350 million
Gov. Nathan Deal announced today that Japan-based Toyota Industries Corp. will open a manufacturing plant in Pendergrass in Jackson County, creating 320 jobs. The company’s Georgia operation will be known as Toyota Industries Compressor Parts America (TICA), and it represents a $350 million investment.
“In opening this new Georgia manufacturing facility, Toyota Industries Corporation sends a very clear message about its confidence in our state’s ability to help them remain competitive in global markets,” Deal said. “Georgia’s innovative logistics infrastructure, progressive business environment and highly skilled workforce will greatly benefit the world’s largest automotive compressor manufacturer. I am glad to welcome Toyota Industries Corporation’s newest plant to Georgia.”
Toyota Industries Corp.’s new Pendergrass operation will locate next to TD Automotive Compressor Georgia (TACG), allowing the company to leverage synergies between the two operations. The TICA plant will manufacture the main parts of automotive compressors currently being imported from Japan and assembled at the TACG facility. The opening of the new TICA plant will allow those parts once manufactured in Japan to be manufactured in Georgia, and conveyed directly to TACG and also shipped to other compressor plants. Toyota Industries Corp. supplies automotive compressors for Toyota Motor Corporation, as well as Chrysler, Ford, General Motors and others.
“We are very pleased to announce that Toyota Industries Corporation has decided to open another compressor plant in Pendergrass in Jackson County,” said Masaharu Suzuki, senior managing director and chief of compressor division of Toyota Industries Corp. and first president of TACG. “We are looking forward to strong support from the State of Georgia and Jackson county as well as TACG. “
Toyota Industries Corp.’s TICA operation will locate in a 600,000-square-foot facility in Pendergrass, and will leverage Jackson County’s pool of skilled labor. The Georgia Department of Economic Development (GDEcD) partnered with the Jackson County Area Chamber of Commerce to manage this business opportunity for Georgia.
“Toyota Industries Corporation has been a vital part of Jackson County’s business community for several years and we are proud to welcome yet another expansion, which will impact our community in such a positive way,” said Hunter Bicknell, chairman of the Jackson County Commission. “We work hard to attract high-quality companies to our area. Toyota Industries Corporation is one that has amazed us from day one, and we look forward to their continued success.”
“Companies like Toyota Industries Corporation, which have located in Jackson County and continue to expand, deserve our sincerest gratitude for believing in our citizens, our leadership and our ability to help them succeed in our community,” said Courtney Bernardi, Director of Economic Development, Jackson County Area Chamber of Commerce.
“Ten years ago when we were working on the initial project with Toyota Industries Corporation, we were told they would have other plans in the future,” said Scott Martin, chairman of the Jackson County Industrial Development Authority. “We are proud of our longstanding relationship with them and look forward to many more years of success together. This is a great day for the people in Jackson County!”
Georgia’s economic development team was led by Scott McMurray, director of GDEcD’s Logistics, Energy, Agribusiness and Food (LEAF) team, and Yumiko Nakazano, managing director of Georgia’s international office in Tokyo.
“Projects such as this underscore Georgia’s record of success in attracting international investment to our state,” said Chris Cummiskey, commissioner of the Georgia Department of Economic Development. “Our efforts to recruit global business leaders like Toyota Industries Corporation not only benefit the company and its customers, but also the people of Georgia. These high-quality advanced manufacturing jobs will positively impact this community for years to come.”
The company will be offered workforce training assistance from Georgia Quick Start, which will provide Toyota Industries Corp. with customized training to facilitate start-up at its TICA operation. Quick Start is Georgia’s No. 1-ranked workforce training program that has extensive experience working with state-of-the-art advanced manufacturing operations.
Toyota Industries Corp. expects to begin operations at the TICA plant by late 2013.
About Toyota Industries Corp.
Toyota Industries Corp. was founded in 1926 by Sakichi Toyoda to manufacture and sell the automatic looms which he had invented and perfected. Since that time Toyota Industries has promoted diversification and expanded the scope of its business domains to include textile machinery, automobiles (vehicles, engines, car air-conditioning compressors, etc.), materials handling equipment, electronics, and logistics solutions. Toyota Industries employs more than 40,000, with a capital of approximately $1 billion and net sales of approximately $18.5 billion in its 2011 fiscal year. With production bases in North America, Europe, and Asia (China and India), as well as a worldwide sales network, centered around the Materials Handling Equipment and Textile Machinery Segments, the operations of the Toyota Industries Group span the globe.