HUNTSVILLE — Already a leader in automobile and aerospace manufacturing, Alabama will soon be one of the world’s largest manufacturers of off-road vehicles. Gov. Robert Bentley on Friday joined state and local leaders in Huntsville to announce Polaris Industries has chosen Alabama to produce off-road vehicles and create up to 2,000 new jobs for North Alabama.
The project is worth about $127 million total. The state offered the company just over $30 million in incentives and will also train workers for the company, which is an additional incentive worth approximately $20 million. Polaris is expected to employ 1,700 workers at an average of $18 per hour.
“I am honored to welcome Polaris Industries to Alabama,” said Bentley. “The Alabama workforce, our business climate and our quality of life continue to make Alabama extremely attractive to companies. I am confident that Polaris will soon experience the success that other companies in Alabama have already experienced. Alabama’s success in advanced manufacturing is a result of the state’s successful Accelerate Alabama plan, and Polaris’ off-road vehicle production strategy fits perfectly within our manufacturing goals. I look forward to the completion of this state-of-the-art facility next year, and a continued partnership with Polaris.”
The new 600,000 square-foot facility will be located southwest of Huntsville City Center. The 453-acre Huntsville site offers Polaris close proximity to its key customer base in the Southeast U.S. and strong logistics network, according a release sent out by the governors’s office. Equipped with state-of-the-art technologies, the plant will support several core processes including, vehicle assembly, chassis and body painting, welding, fabrication and injection molding.
State leaders credited Alabama’s success in industrial recruitment to what they have dubbed the “Accelerate Alabama Plan,” a three-year road map to boost economic development in the state. Manufacturing is Alabama’s largest employment sector and now accounts for more than 16 percent of all jobs in the state.
“At Polaris, making great products is more than just a job – it’s a creed the company lives by,” Alabama Commerce Secretary Greg Canfield said. “That’s what we do in Alabama as well. Our workers assemble and engineer great products from automobiles to ships and rockets to aircraft. Polaris and Alabama are a perfect fit.”
U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions congratulated state leaders and Polaris executives for closing the deal.
“The world-class workforce in Huntsville continues to attract many of the best companies in the world,” he said. “Polaris’ decision to open a factory to produce its renowned Ranger off-road vehicle is a further testament to that fact, and excellent news for working families in the region… Our workforce is unrivaled in its skill and dedication, and we should pursue every opportunity to ensure they have the opportunities they need to find good jobs and good pay.”
Polaris will break ground on the Huntsville facility in the first quarter of 2015 with completion slated for early in the second quarter of 2016. Production will begin shortly thereafter.
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— Cliff Sims (@Cliff_Sims) December 3, 2014
