Kubota Corp. officials recently announced the grand opening of a new $73 million manufacturing facility at Kubota Industrial Equipment (KIE) in Jefferson, Ga. The 522,000 sq. ft. plant on the 88-acre site recently began production of Kubota’s 30-50 HP compact tractor models. The grand opening event was co-sponsored by Kubota Tractor Corporation, the U.S. marketer and distributor of Kubota tractors and equipment.
Kubota began doing business in Georgia approximately 40 years ago, with its first operations located in Norcross. In the mid-1980s, Kubota purchased its first office building in the state at the current Southeast Division headquarters in Suwanee. Since that time, Kubota has further expanded its operation in Georgia to include Kubota Manufacturing of America (KMA) in Gainesville; its National Distribution Center (NDC) in Jefferson; and Kubota Industrial Equipment (KIE), also in Jefferson. Today in Georgia, the company employs more than 1,700 people at Kubota facilities and has 43 dealerships that retail and market Kubota-branded products.
“We are committed to making investments that will enable us to grow our business to meet the strong demand for Kubota tractors here in the U.S.,” said Mr. Henry Kubota, president of KIE. ”Our goal is to efficiently deliver quality products that provide value to our customers and with the expanded capabilities that our new plant will deliver, we can achieve that goal today and into the future.”
Added to existing facilities in the state, the recent expansion brings Kubota’s total footprint of manufacturing and assembly space in Georgia to 2.1 million square feet. The new manufacturing facility is located on the same site as the existing KIE property in Jefferson, which currently produces Kubota implements, including loaders and backhoes. Once fully operational, the new facility will add hundreds of new jobs to support the production capacity of 22,000 units annually. Kubota products currently manufactured and assembled at Georgia facilities include RTV utility vehicles; BX-Series subcompact tractors; Z-Series commercial and residential zero-turn mowers; and Kubota implements and attachments, including loaders, backhoes and mower decks. Just added at the new KIE facility are the Kubota L3200 and L3800 compact tractors.