Mando announces plans to add second facility in Opelika

Beverly Harvey
Staff Writer
Published: July 8, 2008

At a time when auto makers in other parts of the country are laying off workers and closing plants, a Korean-based company announced plans to build a new 400,000-square-foot facility in Opelika.

Mando America will build the new site directly across from its current location in the Northeast Opelika Industrial Park.  The company will make a $25 million capital investment and add 200 jobs with the new facility. Construction on the new Mando America structure is slated to being in August and is expected to be completed in a year.

With the added location, Mando America will have more than 600 employees, which will make it one of the largest employers in Opelika, Mayor Gary Fuller said at a press conference Tuesday. In 2003, the company announced plans to build a 150,000-square-foot facility and create 150 new jobs. Less than a year after the facility was completed in 2004, the company added 175,000 square feet to the original building and moved its headquarters from Detroit, Mich., to Opelika.

In 2007, Mando America announced and completed a $21 million expansion, adding equipment and jobs at the site.

The press conference on Tuesday was the fourth time Mando America has announced plans to locate or expand its operations in Opelika.

“We don’t have to stop with just this fourth expansion,” Opelika Mayor Gary Fuller said, noting that there were 1,200 more acres available at the industrial park.

Mando America President Tae Kwak expressed the company’s interest in expanding the planned new facility in the future, adding new technology and more jobs.

“I’m already thinking about the next phase,” said Kwak, who credited the company’s employees for the continued success and expansion of the Opelika site.

Mando America produces brake and suspension modules, and steering systems for automakers throughout the U.S., including Hyundai in Montgomery, and plans to supply the Kia plant currently being built in West Point, Ga.

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