Corporate executives from Germany will be in Graniteville next week to formally announce Sage Mill Industrial Park as the new site for their diesel engine manufacturing plant.
MTU Detroit Diesel Inc. will eventually employ 250 people. The company, a subsidiary of German-based Tognum Group, will make marine, railroad and power-generating engines in Aiken County.
Executives from Tognum Group and officials from the Economic Development Partnership of Aiken and Edgefield Counties will gather at the former SKF USA Inc. plant in Sage Mill on March 5, they announced today.
MTU is investing $45 million to convert the 250,000-square-foot wheel bearing plant, empty for the last four years, into its new diesel engine production facility. MTU spokeswoman Jennifer Riley said production could start before the end of the year.
Fred Humes, director of the Economic Development Partnership, said he expects work on renovation and equipment installation to begin immediately after next Friday's official announcement.
"This is not going to take a long time to get up and running," Humes said.
MTU said in January that Sage Mill was its selection for the plant, but was awaiting the results of an environmental impact study before making it final, Riley said.
"March 1 was the date I heard to have the closing and sign the papers," Riley said. "So we'll be ready to make the official announcement on the 5th."
Riley said she did not know when the company would begin hiring, but it has set up an email account - mtuaiken@mtu-online.com - for inquiries from prospective employees.
Aiken County Council last week finalized its incentives for the company, a $1 million loan that is expected to be paid back in five years. The county is using funds from the sale of the Mattie C. Hall Nursing Home for the incentive.
MTU Detroit Diesel employs 750 people in the U.S., spread among production facilities in Detroit, Mankato, Minn., and other offices.
The new facility is part of a corporate growth initiative to have regional manufacturing facilities near it customers, Riley said.
Tognum's subsidiaries make engines, generators, fuel cells and fuel injection systems. Its MTU engines are used in ships, trains, military tanks, industrial equipment and on offshore oil platforms.
Well done, folks! Congratulations! A hearty welcome to MTU.
"Aiken County Council last week finalized its incentives for the company, a $1 million loan that is expected to be paid back in five years. " Expected, versus guaranteed. There's a big difference between those two words.
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