Beretta USA "frustrated" at MD over gun control, opening new facility in TN.
Gun company, Beretta, bringing 300 jobs to Gallatin
Company's investment will top $44 million
Jan. 29, 2014 6:56 PM
http://www.tennessean.com/article/20...nclick_check=1
Italian gunmaker Beretta USA plans to make Gallatin its manufacturing base in the United States, announcing plans Wednesday to invest $45 million in a firearms plant that will initially employ 300 workers.
Tennessee’s reputation as a gun-friendly state was key to the Sumner County city landing its biggest economic development win since clothing retailer Gap Inc. opened a distribution center two decades ago.
“This is a platinum project,” Gallatin Mayor Jo Graves Ann said. “It’s an international company. It’s well-known, it has an excellent reputation and we’re very excited that they’ve chosen (us) over eight other states.”
As a result of choosing Gallatin, Beretta will be eligible for tax credits, infrastructure and job training grants from the state. Details also are being finalized for a payment-in-lieu-of-taxes grant from Gallatin.
Beretta, meanwhile, is negotiating with Gallatin officials to buy 100 acres at the Gallatin Industrial Center off Airport Road where the manufacturing and research and development facility will be built. Construction should start by May with production expected to start during the first quarter of 2015.
The site Beretta is pursuing is part of the 200-acre expansion phase of the Gallatin industrial park. Western Reflections and Laminate Technologies are among tenants in the first phase that’s 90 percent full.
Beretta USA’s choice of Gallatin came after nearly a year-long search for a location to expand U.S. manufacturing outside of Maryland where the world’s oldest manufacturing dynasty, operating since 1526 in Italy, employs about 350 at a factory in Accokeek.
After Maryland passed stricter gun legislation in the aftermath of the December 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., Beretta expressed frustration about the new laws and said it might be looking for a new home for that factory.
Initially, Beretta focused on states that expressed strong support for second Amendment rights, said Jeff Reh, a board member of Beretta USA. It narrowed down that list by looking at factors for investment, including tax rates, cost of living, quality of local educational institutions, availability of workers, and job recruitment support from the state, including training programs.
Beretta then visited 80 specific locations over five months before narrowing the number of sites to six. After more visits, three sites remained in the running and Gallatin was chosen as the best possible location for the expansion.
“We’re convinced we could find no better place than Tennessee to establish our new manufacturing enterprise,” said Franco Gussalli Beretta, executive vice president and a director of Beretta USA. “We look forward to building operations here and being part of your community for many years to come.”
Beretta isn’t the only well-known gunmaker to consider sites around Middle Tennessee over the past year. Remington Arms also considered a corporate relocation or expansion of manufacturing here last year, but has since decided to pursue opportunities elsewhere, local economic development officials said. Already, firearms maker Barrett Firearms Manufacturing has its headquarters and a manufacturing plant in Murfreesboro.
Beretta expects to have up to 300 employees working at the plant by the third or fourth year of operations and is exploring projects that could add more jobs in Gallatin, Reh said. The company will keep the manufacturing plant in Maryland open, but some employees might choose to move here, he added. The company also has not indicated where the company’s U.S. headquarters will be located long-term.
The Gallatin plant will make firearms for Beretta’s sporting and tactical product lines. The company is privately owned and operated by members of the 15th and 16th generations of the Beretta family.
Gallatin has added 350 jobs in the past year through expansion of existing employers, such as Gap and ABC Group Fuel. Gallatin had a 6.7 percent unemployment rate for November. “It’s a spectacular opportunity for Gallatin, and it allows for the visibility that Gallatin deserves,” said James Fenton, executive director of the Gallatin Economic Development Agency, said about the Beretta expansion.
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