Gov. Kay Ivey announced that Kimber Mfg Inc., a leading U.S. firearms manufacturer, has finalized plans to open a production facility in Troy, where it will create 366 jobs and invest $38 million into the local economy over the next five years.
“With talented Alabamians already manufacturing a wide range of high-quality products that are in demand around the globe, the state can offer Kimber an ideal business environment and a skilled workforce for its expansion project,” Ivey said.
“Kimber’s investment in Troy will create a significant number of high-paying design engineering and manufacturing jobs, and we are committed to helping the company find long-lasting success in Alabama.”
Once a small manufacturing company based in Yonkers, New York, Kimber has grown rapidly over the past 21 years. The new manufacturing facility in Troy will be Kimber’s sixth U.S. location.
“We are pleased with the impressive track record that Alabama has with attracting and retaining world-class manufacturing companies,” said Leslie Edelman, Kimber’s president and chief executive officer.
“Growing our company intelligently depends significantly on being in the right manufacturing environment, and in Troy, we have a community dedicated to our long-term success. It has been a pleasurable and fruitful experience working with Mayor Jason Reeves and his team.”
Growth plans
Greg Grogan, Kimber’s chief operating officer, said the company will build a large, automated, state-of-the-art design engineering and manufacturing facility in Troy to support Kimber’s strategic growth plans.
“Troy offers us expansion with a passionate workforce, extraordinarily low utility costs, a pro-business environment, experienced local training support, and long-term incentives from the state and local government alike,” Grogan said. “This expansion in conjunction with our existing manufacturing facilities, talented and experienced employees, and best-in-class products provides for exciting times here at Kimber.”
James Cox, Kimber’s chief financial officer, said an unprecedented growth in demand for Kimber products is driving the company to increase its manufacturing capacity.
“As we continue to move into uncharted waters in regards to Kimber product demand, it was important to us to build a facility that will allow us to secure a significant new plateau of capacity,” he said.
‘High-performance company’
Kimber’s new design engineering and manufacturing facility in Troy is expected to be fully operational in early 2019.
“Kimber is a first-class firearms manufacturer with a reputation for precision craftsmanship, dependability and accuracy, which makes it just the kind of high-performance company we want to attract to the state,” said Greg Canfield, secretary of the Alabama Department of Commerce.
“We look forward to Kimber joining the ranks of great manufacturers that are growing and thriving in our state.”
“It is the realization of a long-term goal for the City of Troy and for me personally to see a firearms manufacturing company with a stellar brand like Kimber creating jobs and investing in the community,” Reeves added. “Troy has a strong manufacturing base, and Kimber will substantially add to that foundation.”
This story originally appeared on the Alabama Department of Commerce’s Made in Alabama website.
