“While many U.S. companies have chosen to move their operations overseas in pursuit of cheap labor, we have chosen instead to reinvest in our technology, our workforce and our infrastructure here in Virginia Beach.” said Kandziora. “Simply put, we will continue to design, engineer and build the best outdoor power equipment possible for Stihl servicing dealers and Stihl customers worldwide.”
 
The new plant adds more than 55,000 sq. ft., and doubles the capacity of the company’s blow molding operation. The expansion also houses the company’s new 3,200-sq.-ft., state-of-the-art data center, which is the first of its kind in the world to use computer door coil cooling units in conjunction with geothermal cooling.
 
Christian Koestler, Stihl's vice president of operations for manufacturing, said the accessories plant expansion is significant because it represents the evolution the company has undergone through the years expanding from a simple assembly operation in 1974, to an industry-leading, vertically integrated manufacturing company.

 

“Unlike many other companies, we have not increased the outsourcing of component manufacturing," he added. "Instead, we have taken additional processes in-house to maximize quality, while minimizing material cost increases and achieving delivery efficiencies that make our operation competitive with any in the world.”