GAINESVILLE, Ga. — Kubota North America Corporation (KNA), the parent company for Kubota Tractor Corporation (KTC) and Kubota Manufacturing of America (KMA), and Kubota Canada Ltd. (KCL) on April 7 celebrated the grand opening of the new 280-acre, Research and Development Center in the state of Georgia to meet the needs of North American customers. Kubota has invested more than $85 million to bring the new facility online and will open with 70 engineering and technical employees and grow to nearly 200 employees over the next five years.
“Constant investment in our North America infrastructure keeps Kubota evolving and forward-looking,” said Mr. Yuichi “Ken” Kitao, President and Representative Director, Kubota Corporation. “We continuously innovate to better meet the needs of our customers – it’s at the core of what we do, it drives our way of thinking and the way we do business. This new R&D center here in Georgia is going to allow us to continue to innovate products and solution advancements with our U.S. and Canada customers’ needs in mind.” Mr. Kitao served as U.S. President and CEO of Kubota Tractor Corporation from 2011-2013 and championed the North America R&D strategy.
The new state-of-the-art center is 100% powered by renewable energy and built on the sustainable principles that are in keeping with the company’s global mission to use technology and efficient operations and practices. For example, the center is powered in part by solar sunflowers and the parking lot features a solar-powered roof to support electric vehicle charging stations. The center will house engineering offices, workshops and testing labs, and outside are tracks for testing turf, utility vehicles, tractors and construction equipment.
As the keynote speaker for Kubota’s grand opening event, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp said, “The agriculture industry is the biggest business in the State of Georgia, so we are excited that Kubota, a world leader in agriculture equipment, has chosen Georgia as the home of its North American research and development center. It’s great to see Kubota continue to expand their footprint and add more jobs here in Georgia.”
President and CEO for Kubota Tractor and Kubota North America Corporations, Mr. Shingo Hanada, marked the occasion by stating, “Kubota is celebrating 50 years of innovation in the U.S., and our goal is to continue to make strategic investments in our infrastructure to develop solutions to ultimately help our dealers and our customers achieve more as we grow together for the next 50 years and beyond.”
In terms of added jobs, Phil Sutton, Vice President for Kubota Manufacturing of America added, “We’re continuing to build on an already strong foundation in the State of Georgia where we employ more than 3,000 team members across manufacturing, sales, distribution and engineering operations.”
Kubota’s Georgia footprint also includes its Southeast Division office, located in Suwanee, Ga., with additional divisional offices located in Edgerton, Kansas; Fort Worth, Texas; Columbus, Ohio; Lodi, Calif.; and KCL headquarters in Pickering, Ontario, all of which are well-positioned to provide regional support for all Kubota dealers.
