Polaris picks Huntsville for new ATV plant
Polaris Industries announced a major production facility that will create between 1,500 and 2,000 jobs to be built in Huntsville city limits in Limestone County. (Contributed)
From Staff Reports
A recent press release summarized a major job and economic development announcement for the Rocket City and surrounding areas.
Governor Robert Bentley and a host of other officials were in Huntsville on Jan. 9 to announce that Polaris, a Minneapolis-based corporation, will be opening an advanced manufacturing facility in the city expected to create nearly 2,000 jobs over the next seven years. The plant will be located in a section of Limestone County near the Old Greenbrier Restaurant.
Polaris is a leading producer of off-road vehicles, including all-terrain vehicles, snowmobiles, and side-by-side vehicles.
Officials with Polaris said Huntsville was an ideal pick for its 600,000-square-foot facility because of the city’s skilled workforce, a history of technology and innovation, existing utility infrastructure, local, state and regional support. The 500-acre site in Huntsville also brings Polaris closer to its key customer base in the Southeast and offers a strong logistics network for the new operation.
“This new facility will complement our already strong and growing North American manufacturing footprint by reducing pressure on our existing facilities and enable each to remain focused on their current product lines as we continue to meet the demand for our innovative, quality products,” said Ken Pucel, Polaris executive vice president, in the release.
“The Alabama workforce, our business climate and our quality of life continue to make Alabama extremely attractive to companies,” Bentley said. “I am confident that Polaris will soon experience the same type of success that other companies in Alabama have already experienced.”
Polaris said the Huntsville manufacturing facility will feature multiple assembly lines and state-of-the-art technologies. It will support core processes including vehicle assembly, chassis and body painting, welding, fabrication, and injection molding.
“Today’s announcement is great news for our community. And it is proof that when we work together to invest in new roads and schools good jobs follow…Today’s announcement once again shows that Madison County’s best days are still ahead,” Madison County Commission Chairman Dale Strong said.
The company anticipates construction to begin by the start of the second quarter of 2015 and the manufacturing campus is expected to be completed and fully operational by 2017. The Alabama Industrial Development Training (AIDT) will handle receiving of applications, screening applicants, and training.
