Great Plains, a wholly owned subsidiary of Kubota North America Corp., recently announced a $53 million expansion project and 750,000-square-foot building purchase to further invest in its Salina, Kan., operations in support of growing demand for Kubota construction equipment. The building is an existing facility in Salina that will become available after July 2021. The company will launch operations in the new facility by the end of 2021 in a phased approach, beginning with Kubota’s compact track loaders, the SVL65.
“Today’s announcement demonstrates our continued commitment to American’s heartland and especially to our city of Salina, Kansas, where we have proudly done business for more than 44 years,” said Linda Salem, president and CEO of Great Plains Manufacturing Inc. “We will plan to add approximately 130 new manufacturing jobs to our already 1,450-strong Kansan employee base as we scale up our operations to meet the growing demand for Kubota equipment.”
As Kubota continues on a high-growth trajectory, the company is dedicated to the further expansion of its diverse product offerings to empower more customers to get the job done with its range of high-quality, performance-focused farming, construction, utility vehicle and turf equipment.
“Increasing the capacity of our operations in Kansas will enable us to achieve even greater operational efficiencies, expand our footprint in the Midwest, enhance our logistic capabilities to better service new and existing markets, and continue on our path to becoming a leading company within our industry,” said Haruyuki (Harry) Yoshida, president and CEO of Kubota North America and Kubota Tractor Corporations.
The Salina announcement is the latest in a series of Midwest investments, including the most recent Great Plains purchase of a 350,000-square-foot Abilene production facility, which opened for operations earlier this year and further expands operations there to produce Kubota and Land Pride branded products.
Additionally, in 2019, Kubota announced the grand opening of its new North American Distribution Center in Logistics Park Kansas City located in Edgerton, Kan. The NADC continues to process shipments from Asia and Europe, in addition to goods from suppliers in North America, with more capacity and accelerated shipping speed for the timely delivery of Kubota parts and equipment to dealers and customers throughout the U.S. and Canada.
