Middle Georgia manufacturing company announces $125 million expansion in Macon

A Macon manufacturing company is planning a $125 million expansion, Gov. Brian Kemp announced Tuesday in a press release.

YKK AP America, which makes architectural products for homes and businesses, plans to build a new manufacturing facility and install additional equipment in Bibb County. According to the release, the expansion will add 100 new jobs to the 250-person strong workforce already at YKK AP in Macon.

“We’re excited to be able to increase our investment in the hometown of our residential products business,” said YKK AP President Oliver Stepe. “The new facility will expand our workforce, introduce further vertical integration of vinyl extrusion, glass, and window production, and allow us to create enhanced efficiencies to manufacture the highest quality windows and doors for homebuilders and homeowners.”

YKK AP will build the new facility at Bibb County’s I-75 Industrial Park and, when it’s completed, the company will move all of its employees there from the Ocmulgee Boulevard location.

“It’s an especially great day in Macon-Bibb County when one of our longest running business partners decides to make another investment in our community and bring an additional 100 jobs to the area,” Macon Mayor Lester Miller said. “And to know that this new state-of-the-art facility will be used as a blueprint for future facilities illustrates their trust in us and in Georgia as the best place to do business.”

The governor’s press release described YKK AP’s work as “a technology-oriented manufacturer of commercial facade systems and residential windows and doors.” The company was founded in Japan in 1984 and built its manufacturing base in Middle Georgia in the early 1990s.