Manitou Celebrates 50th Anniversary of Yankton, S.D., Factory with Major Expansion
Manitou Group, a global player in the handling, aerial work platforms and earthmoving sectors, inaugurates a 75,000 square foot (7,000 m²) expansion to its plant in Yankton, S.D. This event coincides with the 50th anniversary of this site dedicated to the production of telehandlers and articulated loaders.
A year after inaugurating the expansion of its neighboring plant in Madison, S.D., Manitou Group is now presenting the expansion of its second North American production site in Yankton, S.D. This expansion will support production of the new range of telehandlers dedicated to the North American market, presented in March 2023 at the Conexpo international construction show.
With 75,000 square feet (7,000 m²) added to the existing 220,000 square feet (20,000 m²), this $20 million investment will provide the Yankton site with innovative industrial resources, such as laser-cutting machines and an automated moving assembly line to support the Group's expansion in the United States.
The ceremony took place in the presence of Jacqueline Himsworth, chairman of the board of Manitou Group, Michel Denis, Manitou Group president & CEO, and national representatives from the state of South Dakota and Yankton mayor, Mason Schramm.
"The expansion of our Yankton site, which is now 50 years old, strengthens our Group's historic presence in the United States,” said Alexandre Caharel, vice president, product unit compact and articulated loaders. “This is an important growth lever in a particularly dynamic market. This new industrial site will enable us to keep pace with this strong demand, while delivering ever greater added value to our customers."
An attractive employer brand, Manitou Group has already hired 50 talents since the beginning of the expansion, in a state where the unemployment rate is one of the lowest in the United States. This modernization will be accompanied by other recruitments that will be adjusted according to market trends. Manitou Group has 300 employees at its Yankton facility and more than 900 in the United States.
About the Author
Michael Roth
Editor
Michael Roth has covered the equipment rental industry full time for RER since 1989 and has served as the magazine’s editor in chief since 1994. He has nearly 30 years experience as a professional journalist. Roth has visited hundreds of rental centers and industry manufacturers, written hundreds of feature stories for RER and thousands of news stories for the magazine and its electronic newsletter RER Reports. Roth has interviewed leading executives for most of the industry’s largest rental companies and manufacturers as well as hundreds of smaller independent companies. He has visited with and reported on rental companies and manufacturers in Europe, Central America and Asia as well as Mexico, Canada and the United States. Roth was co-founder of RER Reports, the industry’s first weekly newsletter, which began as a fax newsletter in 1996, and later became an online newsletter. Roth has spoken at conventions sponsored by the American Rental Association, Associated Equipment Distributors, California Rental Association and other industry events and has spoken before industry groups in several countries. He lives and works in Los Angeles when he’s not traveling to cover industry events.