MARIETTA, Ga. (AP) – A company that automates package and baggage handling is investing $59 million in a new office in suburban Atlanta, with plans to hire 500 new employees.
Vanderlande Industries announced its plans Thursday, with spokesperson Margaret Sinclair saying Friday that the company would move into the new building in Marietta by February. New hiring will give the company more than 1,250 employees in Georgia.
“Vanderlande’s business is rapidly growing to meet the increasing demand of the e-commerce, parcel, and airport industries,” Sinclair said.
The Dutch-based company is a unit of Toyota Industries Corp., a Japanese company that is the ancestor but now separate from the company that makes Toyota cars. Toyota Industries makes forklifts, among other products.
Vanderlande has a manufacturing facility in nearby Acworth that it also plans to expand, Sinclair said. The new building will house professional services such as engineering, supply chain management, software development and sales. The company has a smaller office nearby that it’s moving from.
Sinclair declined to say how much new workers would earn, only describing pay as “competitive.”
Business group leaders said supply chain and logistics are growing industries in metro Atlanta.
Alison Wentley, a spokesperson for the Georgia Department of Economic Development, said she couldn’t say how much incentives would be worth to Vanderlande because the state has not yet signed a final agreement.
Vanderlande could claim various tax breaks, including an income tax credit allowing it to annually deduct $750 per job from state income taxes, up to $1.88 million over five years, as long as workers make at least $28,000 per year.