CALHOUN, Ga. — Belgium-based stow Group cut the ribbon on its first United States factory in Gordon County, a 240,000-square-foot racking plant along the Highway 41 corridor meant to shorten delivery times for warehouse customers across North America.
Company leaders and local officials marked the Calhoun inauguration this week. The site is stow eighth manufacturing plant worldwide and its first on U.S. soil after years of shipping European-made frames into the American market.
At full strength the factory is expected to support about 200 jobs. Roughly 120 roles are already filled in production, engineering, quality and operations, with hiring still open. Investment in equipment and fit-out, not counting the building itself, is pegged around $40 million to $50 million.
Stow announced the Georgia project at the MODEX trade show in Atlanta in April, started production in May and used the October ceremony to show automated lines and robotic welding cells that stamp and finish teardrop racking to RMI 2023 standards. Domestic lead times are projected around six to nine weeks, down from the 12-to-15-week waits common on ocean freight.
Governor Brian Kemp earlier backed the project as a $36 million commitment bringing logistics manufacturing to northwest Georgia. Economic developers pitched rail, highway and inland-port links that reach Alabama, Florida, Tennessee and the Carolinas.
CEO Jos De Vuyst said Calhoun will not be the company last U.S. plant if demand holds. For Georgia, the opening adds another European manufacturer to a corridor that already leans on warehousing and distribution employers.
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