Kongsberg Automotive Announces Expansion in Pickens County
November 9, 2011
COLUMBIA, SC – November 8, 2011 – Kongsberg Automotive, a maker ofautomotive components, today announced plans to expand its existingoperation in Pickens County. The $7.3 million investment is expected togenerate 300 new jobs.
“This expansion will help our plant remain competitive and meetincreasing customer demand. Pickens County has provided us with anexcellent business environment in which to operate. We greatlyappreciate the support from state and local officials,” said PlantManager Matt McKinnon.
Kongsberg Automotive will manufacture precision parts for the aerospace, truck and automotive industry at its expanded plant in Pickens County.The plant became part of the company through a recent acquisition. Theexpansion is begin in early 2012 and expected to be completed withinfive years.
“Today’s announcement is a big win for South Carolina and Pickens County in particular, and we celebrate the 300 new jobs Kongsberg will create. Announcements like this show that we are doing the right things toencourage economic development in South Carolina,” said Gov. NikkiHaley.
This is Pickens County’s fifth and largest economic developmentannouncement since June. Kongsberg Automotive was incorporated inPickens County 1989 as Tevis Machine Products by Earl Tevis, a PickensCounty entrepreneur. Tevis sold the company in 1999 to Teleflex.Kongsberg Automotive acquired the Pickens operation in 2007.
“The Palmetto State continues to be a big player in the automotive club. Manufacturing remains an important part of South Carolina’s economy and is the greatest source of wealth and job creation. We appreciateKongsberg Automotive’s investment in the Palmetto State,” said BobbyHitt, Secretary of Commerce.
Automotive continues to be a leading sector in South Carolina. Commercehas been involved in recruiting more than $2 billion in investment andmore than 4,000 jobs in the automotive-related sector since thebeginning of the year.
Due to current and projected rapid growth, Kongsberg needed to doublethe current plant capacity. Given the fact that there was not anappropriate, large enough existing manufacturing facility in PickensCounty, Kongsberg considered other locations in both the U.S. andMexico. However with Confluence Watersports vacating the Bill Mastersfacility in Easley, county officials moved quickly to introduceKongsberg to the facility. Kongsberg chose to stay, winning the 300 job expansion in Pickens County.
“The expansion of Kongsberg Automotive and the creation of new jobs isfantastic news! The skilled workforce, the training available throughTri-County Technical College, the business-friendly community, and manyother assets in Pickens County made the decision simple for KongsbergAutomotive. Pickens County is proud to celebrate this announcementlooks forward to watching the success of Kongsberg Automotive for manyyears to come,” stated Pickens County Council Chairwoman JenniferWillis.
“Kongsberg has been an important part of Pickens County,” stated Dr.Ronnie L. Booth, chairman of Alliance Pickens and president ofTri-County Technical College. “This announcement is the result ofKongsberg’s positioning itself to take advantage of new opportunities in the world-wide market for their products. Most new jobs are created byexisting industry and we see yet another example of that today.”
“We have a wide variety of challenging and rewarding positions that will become available in the near future. We look forward to partnering with the people of Pickens County to get those jobs filled”, said KongsbergHuman Resources Manager Candace Moore.
The company will begin hiring for the new positions in January 2012.Anyone interested in job opportunities with the company should contactLiberty One Stop at that time.
Kongsberg Automotive develops, manufactures and markets systems forgearshift, clutch actuation, seat comfort, stabilizing rods, couplingsand components. For more information about Kongsberg Automotive, pleasevisit www.kongsbergautomotive.com.
About S.C. Department of Commerce
As South Carolina’s leading economic development agency, theDepartment of Commerce works to recruit new businesses and help existing businesses grow. This year, Commerce won the Gold Shovel Award and theDeal of Year Award from Area Development magazine. Commerce has beenpart of recruiting world-class companies to South Carolina such asBoeing, Bridgestone, Continental, Monster.com, Heinz, ZF Group, BMW andGoogle Inc. Commerce also supports small and existing business, ruraldevelopment initiatives and offers grants for community development. For more information, visit www.SCcommerce.com.
