BCP Breaks Ground In Georgia

Building Construction Products (BCP) leaders, Georgia Governor Nathan Deal and Georgia-area officials got a little closer to realizing their goal of a new Caterpillar facility when the group ceremonially broke ground near Athens, Georgia, on March 16, 2012.

Mary Bell, BCP vice president, addressed the crowd of supporters and expressed the team’s excitement.

“We are thrilled to call Georgia home to our newest Caterpillar production facility and appreciate the support we’ve received,” said Bell. “This facility will play an important role in positioning Caterpillar to maintain its leadership position, and the groundbreaking ceremony puts us another step closer to achieving that goal.”

The state-of-the-art, one-million-square-foot facility will produce small track-type tractors and mini hydraulic excavators. Caterpillar will invest approximately $200 million in the facility, which is expected to employ 1,400 people once fully operational. The company estimates another 2,800 full-time jobs will be created in the United States among suppliers and at other non Caterpillar companies that will support the new facility.

“We congratulate Caterpillar as it opens this new door of opportunity,” Governor Deal said.

Initial production at the facility is expected to begin in late 2013, ramping up to full production over a five-year period.