Firearms manufacturer Steyr Arms will invest $2.9 million to add a manufacturing and production component to its assembly and distribution hub, 16 miles southwest of Birmingham, in Bessemer, Alabama.

Steyr plans to relocate the manufacturing of its products for U.S. sales from Austria to its U.S. facility. According to state officials and the Birmingham Business Alliance, investment will mainly include the purchase of new equipment to process components used in the production of firearms and final assembly. The project is expected to be fully completed in June 2019, though manufacturing is expected to start on-site by the end of this year.

“This expansion represents a great deal of trust in our operations in Bessemer, on behalf of our parent company,” said Scott O’Brien, President of Steyr Arms. “Our operations and workforce here are world-class, and we are proud to be able to serve our U.S. customers in a new and efficient way.”

As an incentive, Steyr Arms worked with the City of Bessemer, Jefferson County and the Birmingham Business Alliance to receive abatements for the expansion.

In 2013, the company invested $1.7 million to move its local operations from Trussville to Bessemer and has since doubled its workforce. It currently employs 15 people in Bessemer.

“Steyr Arms’ decision to add a manufacturing component to its operation in Bessemer shows that Alabama provides an ideal environment for firearms makers, along with many other manufacturing businesses,” said Greg Canfield, Secretary of the Alabama Department of Commerce.

“In addition, every time a company expands in Alabama, it transmits a vote of confidence to the world that the state is a place where success can be found,” he added.

“The entire Commission is excited that Steyr Arms Inc. has decided to expand its operations in Jefferson County,” Jefferson County Commissioner David Carrington said.

Steyr Arms is well known throughout the world for manufacturing high quality firearms. This expansion further reinforces the positive business climate and continued economic growth that our county is experiencing.” Foreign direct investment in the region remains strong because of companies like Steyr, said Jeff Traywick, Senior Project Manager for the Birmingham Business Alliance, who is working with the company on the expansion.

“We are excited to see this prominent company, with a history going back more than 150 years, continuing their investment in Bessemer,” Traywick said. “The location of Steyr’s facility has been an asset to their wholesale distribution activities and we look forward to seeing production added at this location. This project is a prime example of growing foreign investment in the Birmingham region.”