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Area Development - Site Selection, Facility Planning and Workforce Development

Germany-Based Heiche Surface Technologies Opens Jasper, Alabama, Metals Coating Plant

12/23/2020
Germany-based Heiche Surface Technologies, specialists in the chemical surface treatment of metal parts, plans to open an advanced metals coating facility in Jasper, Alabama. The project is expected to create at least 73 jobs in Walker County.

Heiche, whose customers include automakers and suppliers, will locate its manufacturing operation to a more than 100,000-square-foot speculative building in the Jasper Industrial Park, just two miles away from Interstate 22. Construction on Heiche’s new facility will begin in the coming weeks, with operations expected to start by October 2021.

In 2018, Heiche became part of the publicly traded KAP AG, and a key component of its surface technologies segment. Within this segment, the KAP Surface Technologies group operates in 10 locations with more than 800 employees.

“Despite ongoing uncertainty due to the COVID-19 pandemic and widespread reductions or restructurings in the automotive industry, KAP Surface Technologies continues to invest and expand its operations,” said Nicolai A.J. Baum, CEO of KAP Surface Technologies. “By expanding its existing U.S. manufacturing footprint in the strategically well-situated Walker County, KAP Surface Technologies expects to strengthen its position in the U.S. market,” Baum added.

Heiche will become the fifth automotive supplier, and the first German company, to operate a manufacturing facility in Jasper, which is located within 250 miles of 11 different automotive assembly plants in the Southeast. Existing automotive suppliers, primarily Japanese, currently employ more than 500 people in Jasper.

“Alabama’s automotive industry continues to spark economic growth throughout many parts of the state, and that robust growth is transforming Jasper into a hub for international automotive suppliers,” Governor Kay Ivey said. “Heiche is a welcome addition to the automotive supply chain emerging in the Walker County city and all across Sweet Home Alabama.”

“Germany’s Heiche is an innovative company that specializes in sophisticated metal-coating processes used in auto manufacturing,” said Greg Canfield, Secretary of the Alabama Department of Commerce. “Along with new jobs in Jasper, Heiche will bring new expertise and advanced technological capabilities to the state’s increasingly dynamic auto industry. We welcome them as a partner.”

Founded in 1965, Heiche operates facilities in Germany, Hungary and Poland, as well as a U.S. operation in Spartanburg, South Carolina. Heiche products serve the automotive, machinery and electronics industries.

David Knight, executive director of the Walker County Development Authority, noted, “the cooperation between the state, local leaders, industrial boards, utilities and regional allies was critical to the successful recruitment of Heiche.”

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