Caterpillar to Add 1,400 Jobs With New Georgia Plant

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Heavy equipment maker Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) announced Friday that it will build a new facility in Athens, Georgia, that will create about 1,400 jobs.

The 1-million-square-foot facility will cost about $200 million and will build small tracktype tractors and mini hydraulic excavators. The plant is expected to create about 1,400 direct full-time jobs by late 2013 to perform the work, which currently is done in Japan. The company also estimates another 2,800 full-time jobs will be created in the U.S. among suppliers and other non-Caterpillar companies that will support the new facility.

Caterpillar announced that it would shift the production from Japan to the United States to better position itself to serve its large customer base in North America and Europe. The plant — which CAT expects to break ground on this quarter — also will serve South American customers.

Caterpillar — Dan Burrows’ pick for the Best Stock for 2012 — is up strongly this year, having gained more than 25% year-to-date. Most of that increase came before its late-January earnings report, in which the company announced record sales for the fourth quarter, as well as earnings that soundly beat analyst expectations. CAT shares were down slightly, trading around $113.50, by midday Friday.

For a look at how Burrows’ pick is shaping up against the rest of our expert picks, visit our 10 Best Stocks for 2012 page.

— Kyle Woodley, InvestorPlace.com Assistant Editor


Article printed from InvestorPlace Media, https://investorplace.com/2012/02/caterpillar-cat-1400-jobs-athens-georgia-plant/.

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