Hettich America L.P., a German manufacturer of hardware for kitchen cabinets and furniture, is consolidating existing Georgia operations into a larger building, a move that is expected to create up to 50 new manufacturing jobs in Gwinnett County.

According to GlobalAtlanta.com, the 150,000-square-foot building in Buford will house manufacturing, sales, research and development, and engineering. Those functions will be moved out of two locations totaling 120,000 square feet in Baldwin and Alpharetta.

With the move, Hettich is banking on growth that will create 50 new jobs in the next few years, according to a Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce news release.

Hettich produces slides drawer systems, hinges, slides and other hardware. The Gwinnett location will be the company’s only U.S. presence. The U.S. branch is a subsidiary of the Hettich Group, which is headquartered in Kirchlengern, Germany. The company employs 5,500 people worldwide and has customers in more than 100 countries.

“Hettich is continuing to launch new products and expand its operations. We needed a location that would give us opportunity to grow over the coming years and one that would be centrally located for both our Baldwin and Alpharetta employees,” said president of Hettich America Thomas Ginschel. “We also required a location from which we could pull talent and a qualified work force, and Gwinnett was the perfect fit for our needs.”

The new facility will house the company’s divisions of sales, manufacturing, research and development, and all other positions. It is also the company’s only U.S.-based location. Hettich supplies products to well-known companies such as Sub-Zero, Whirlpool/Maytag, American Woodmark, and Homecrest. The facility will open in early 2011.

Hettich America announced it will consolidate its Baldwin and Alpharetta, Georgia locations into one Gwinnett County site in Buford. The two facilities have a total area of 120,000 square feet, while the new space will have 150,000 square feet with room for growth. The relocation will bring 100 jobs to Gwinnett County, with the possibility of 50 more over the next few years.

This entry was posted on Sunday, May 2nd, 2010 at 10:11 pm and is filed under Manufacturing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.