Doosan Bobcat Completes $26 Million Expansion of Litchfield, Minn., Manufacturing Facility
Doosan Bobcat North America, a global leader in the compact equipment industry, is celebrating the completion of a $26 million expansion at its manufacturing facility in Litchfield, Minn. The 15-month project nearly tripled the size of the facility, from 70,000 square feet of office and manufacturing space to nearly 200,000 square feet and will create a significant number of new jobs in the community.
The expansion adds new assembly lines and upgrades, conveyor systems, a new paint line, climate control systems and more, all designed to add efficiency and provide additional manufacturing capabilities to meet the growing customer demand for the ever-expanding lineup of Bobcat products. The Litchfield facility produces more than 250 unique attachments to equip Bobcat machines for specific tasks to enhance productivity and utility.
“This investment is about meeting the growing demand for Bobcat products from our customers and dealers, and I am incredibly proud of this project and our Litchfield team,” said Mike Ballweber, president of Doosan Bobcat North America. “We are pleased to expand our manufacturing footprint and continue to support our expanding product line and customer base.”
The expansion brings additional employment opportunities and economic growth to the area. Doosan Bobcat is actively recruiting to hire an additional 110 full-time, permanent employees with benefits in a phased approach through 2021 to join the operation’s current 140+ member workforce. This hiring plan includes a total of more than 150 production, manufacturing engineering and operations positions to be added since the expansion project launched in Nov. 2019.
Production jobs currently being added at the Litchfield facility include fabricator, assembler, welder and material handler positions – all of which offer initial and ongoing training, competitive and comprehensive benefits package, and the opportunity for career advancement and leadership roles.
“We are experiencing significant opportunities in Litchfield. We are excited about the growth and the chance to expand our workforce,” said Mike Kiefer, Litchfield site operations manager at Doosan Bobcat. “This expansion has strengthened our manufacturing footprint, while also contributing to the economic development in Meeker County and the Twin Cities region.”
For more information and to apply for Doosan Bobcat positions in Litchfield or other locations nationwide, please visit the production career page at bobcat.com/NowHiring. Doosan Bobcat has made additional recent investments in its North America manufacturing facilities. This includes a $17 million investment in Gwinner, N.D., an $11 million investment in Statesville, N.C., and a commitment of $6 million in facility and manufacturing enhancements at Johnson Creek, Wis. These efforts are part of the company’s strategic growth initiatives as a global leader in the compact equipment industry, in addition to demonstrating its long-term commitment to employees and communities.
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.