ATLANTA – Caterpillar of Peoria, Ill., said Friday that it will build a new manufacturing plant in Georgia expected to employ 1,400 workers.
The company said in a statementthat the planned 1-million-SF plant is being built near Athens. Caterpillar estimates the project will help create another 2,800 full-time jobs at other companies such as suppliers.
Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal says the project is creating the largest number of new jobs since a sprawling Kia Motors plant was built.
In November, Caterpillar announced plans to shift production from Sagami, Japan, to a new plant in North America to produce small tractors and excavators. The company said it wanted to move production of the equipment closer to its customers in North America and Europe.
Caterpillar already has a two-year-old motor grader manufacturing plant in North Little Rock. The $140 million plant employs 550 people.
CNBC reported Feb. 3 that Arkansas was one of two dozen states that wanted to be considered for the plant, which would make mini hydraulic excavators that are in increasing demand in North America.
It’s not clear how many states were in the running. The Chicago Tribune reported Friday that the company had ruled out Illinois earlier this month, which Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn said was based on the state’s lack of ocean access.
Scott Hardin, spokesman for the Arkansas Economic Development Commission, said Friday that Arkansas leaders understood from the beginning that the plant required a deep-water port.
No Arkansas sites were formally submitted for consideration, Hardin said. But based on the state’s relationship with Caterpillar, AEDC started a discussion with the company about the plant even though it was "a long shot."
"We’re constantly … talking to Caterpillar, their people here in Arkansas, about what we can do to get their facility to continue to grow," Hardin said.
(The Associated Press contributed to this story.)