Global auto parts supplier Bolta Group announced the opening of its new $48.7 million production facility at the Tuscaloosa County Airport Industrial Park. The factory will employ 350 people by the end of 2018.
State and local officials joined members of Bolta’s global management team at an on-site ceremony to celebrate completion of the 200,000-square-foot facility.
Anil Puri, chairman of Bolta’s U.K.-based parent company, Purico Group, said the Tuscaloosa factory will play an important role in Bolta’s plans to expand its international footprint. In addition to Alabama, Bolta has advanced production facilities in Germany and Mexico and plans for a location in Eastern Europe.
“Internationalization is crucial to our development, since it is our ambition to be able to manufacture exactly where our customers need us,” Puri said. “This opening today is an important milestone for the company as a whole and will lead us to the next stages of our corporation’s history.”
U.S. Rep. Robert Aderholt said Bolta’s decision to make a significant investment in Alabama serves to solidify and advance Alabama’s reputation as the “new heart of American automotive production.”
“Companies like Bolta are driving the robust growth that Alabama’s automotive manufacturing industry has been experiencing, which has created jobs and lifted communities across the state,” said Greg Canfield, secretary of the Alabama Department of Commerce.
“We have forged a strong relationship with Bolta, and we’ll continue to assist this top-notch company and its growing Alabama workforce.”
Growing automotive cluster
Bolta, founded in Nuremberg, Germany, in 1921, manufactures integrated modules as well as individual parts, like nameplates and decorative trims, for the international automotive industry.
The company’s new Tuscaloosa County facility has 200 employees as a ramp-up continues.
“Our success depends on the skills and expertise of our employees. We have found an extremely dedicated workforce here in Tuscaloosa, willing and able to learn and apply these specialized skills,” said Bolta U.S. Managing Director and Vice President Johannes Carl.
“On the base of this strong workforce, Bolta US offers expertise as well as process and production capabilities for a wide range of surface requirements and creates innovative solutions you will see on tomorrow’s cars,” Carl added.
Dara Longgrear, executive director of the Tuscaloosa County Industrial Development Authority, welcomed Bolta to the growing automotive cluster in Tuscaloosa.
“Bolta’s focus on technology, high quality and customer satisfaction is a wonderful fit for our existing international manufacturing community,” Longgrear said.
This story originally appeared on the Alabama Department of Commerce’s Made in Alabama website.
