Milwaukee Tool is expanding in Greenwood yet again.
The Wisconsin-based manufacturer plans to open a third plant in the Greenwood-Leflore Industrial Park and add 300 more employees, bringing its total work force in Greenwood to almost 1,100.
The expansion was announced this morning in Jackson at a press conference held by Gov. Phil Bryant and company officials.
Milwaukee Tool is also expanding its sites in Jackson and Olive Branch.
Combined, the three expansions represent an investment of $33.4 million by the company and will create a projected 660 jobs over the next four years as the company expands its manufacturing of cordless power tools and accessories in the state plus adds more distribution capacity, according to the Mississippi Development Authority, which heads the state’s economic development efforts.
“Once again, Milwaukee Tool confirms its commitment to doing business in our state by growing its existing operations and providing hundreds of Mississippians with good, stable jobs,” Bryant said in a prepared statement released prior to the press conference. “The state values the partnership we share with Milwaukee Tool and is thrilled to play a role in the industry leader’s continued growth.”
The expansion in Greenwood includes three major components, according to Tommy Gregory, a city planner who helped with securing the grants and low-interest loan that are providing about half the funding for the $29 million project:
• The acquisition and renovation of the former Delta Distributing Co. warehouse in the Greenwood-Leflore Industrial Park. The city of Greenwood is purchasing for
$1.5 million the vacant 57,000-square-foot building from Mitchell Distributing Co., which acquired and subsequently closed the facility after purchasing the beer distributorship in 2015. Gregory said Milwaukee’s lease payments to the city will go toward retiring the 20-year, low-interest loan the city received to purchase the building.
• Renovate and equip the presently unused half of a 200,000-square-foot building that Milwaukee Tool added last year adjacent to its original Greenwood location on Sycamore Avenue.
• Replace the aging parking lot that serves the two Sycamore Avenue plants.
Gregory said the financing of the expansion was a complicated process that took about three months to put together and tapped into three difference sources of state and federal assistance, totaling $14 million. He said it would not have happened but for the Mississippi Development Authority’s help.
“That bunch at MDA stepped up, and they made it work,” Gregory said.
The expansion will be Milwaukee Tool’s third in Greenwood since 2012, and its largest.
At its Greenwood facilities, the company makes accessories — blades and drill bits — for its line of power tools, and it also has its repair and reconditioning operation here. It was not immediately clear if the latest expansion will provide more space for what the company already does in Greenwood or would include the introduction of new product lines.
Milwaukee Tool currently employs more than 1,600 in Mississippi, nearly half of them in Greenwood, and more than 3,000 nationwide.
“We are deeply committed to investing in our people as we continue to deliver disruptive innovation and the highest quality products for our users and distribution partners,” Milwaukee Tool Group President Steve Richman said in a prepared statement.
Angela Curry, executive director of the Greenwood-Leflore-Carroll Economic Development Foundation, said Milwaukee Tool’s growth in Greenwood has been exciting. With this latest expansion, the manufacturer will have increased its employment sixfold from the 180 workers it started with in Greenwood when it located here in 2001.
“We are elated to support Milwaukee Tool’s growth here in Greenwood-Leflore County. ... With the help of the city of Greenwood and the state of Mississippi, we’ve been able to put together a very good package for Milwaukee and encourage continued growth here in the state of Mississippi and Leflore County,” she said.
Curry expects the renovations to take about six to eight months to complete before the new jobs are added.
Gregory also tipped his hat to Greenwood Mayor Carolyn McAdams, who he said helped push along the application process for government assistance.
“If it hadn’t been for her, we’d still be waiting to get the money,” he said.
•Contact Tim Kalich at 581-7243 or tkalich@gwcommonwealth.com.
