After an extensive property search, Great Dane Limited Partnership has announced plans to build a new refrigerated trailer plant on a 118-acre site in Statesboro, Ga., northwest of Savannah, which meets the company and the State of Georgia’s joint goal of keeping this facility close to Great Dane’s heritage. The trailer manufacturer was founded more than 100 years ago in Savannah.
The plant, in its first phase, will encompass 450,000 square feet, including office and showroom space, and will have the capacity to produce 5,000-plus trailers annually. At that level of production, the facility will employ more than 400 people. “While many different sites throughout the Southeast region were considered, we believe the Statesboro location best meets our strategic and corporate needs,” says Phill Pines, president and chief operating officer for Great Dane Limited Partnership.
Strategically located in the Southeast, the new reefer plant will serve the traditional Great Dane customer base. Its manufacturing processes will feature the latest technology in its foaming methods and automation of key production operations. The new plant will be less than an hour’s drive from Great Dane’s Division Offices in Savannah, Ga., which will remain home to its sales, marketing, engineering and research and development center. Construction is expected to get under way later this year to bring the plant into production in 2012.
