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Area Development - Site Selection, Facility Planning and Workforce Development

Beretta Opens U.S. Manufacturing Center In Gallatin, Tennessee

04/15/2016
Italy-based Firearm producer Beretta U.S.A. opened its new state-of-the-art manufacturing and engineering center in Gallatin, Tennessee.

According to company officials, the complex was built by Beretta U.S.A. through a combination of its own funding and with the assistance of grants provided to the Company by the State of Tennessee and City of Gallatin.

“Beretta U.S.A.’s new Gallatin campus is the most recent step in our Company’s development as an important research and development and manufacturing operation, not just for the U.S. market but for our customers around the world,” commented Dott Franco Gussalli Beretta, Executive Vice President of Beretta U.S.A.

“We are very proud of Beretta U.S.A.’s continued growth in the U.S.A. and international market and we look forward to working closely with Tennessee government officials and with our new Tennessee employees as we continue our efforts in the future,” noted Cav. Ugo Gussalli Beretta, President of Beretta U.S.A.

Beretta U.S.A. is one of the U.S. subsidiaries of Beretta Holding S.p.A., the Italian controlling corporation that has subsidiaries throughout the world, including the original Beretta Company in Gardone Val Trompia, Italy, as well as other well-known firearm and optics brands including Benelli, Burris, Franchi, Sako, Steiner, Stoeger, Tikka, and Uberti. Starting its manufacturing operations in Accokeek, Maryland in 1977, Beretta U.S.A. has been the supplier of the standard 9mm sidearm for the U.S. Armed Forces since 1985. Beretta U.S.A. has now transferred production operations for the M9 9mm pistol to its new 156,000 sq. ft. Gallatin facility, as well as the manufacturing operations for the variety of other firearms the Company makes. In addition to the construction of the new facility and campus, Beretta U.S.A. Corp, has plans for employment of over 200 employees in North Central Tennessee in the near future.

“The visibility that it’s given Gallatin is incredible. It makes it much easier to have conversations with other companies now in the United States,” said James Fenton, Executive Director of the Gallatin Economic Development Agency. “When the original announcement was made, we had about 50 of the top one hundred newspapers in the United States carry the story, and 1.75 million tweets went out within 36 hours. As we’ve gotten closer to the opening, it’s just intensified for us.”

“Beretta’s new facility celebrates a ‘modern American’ design style,” said Roger Anderson, Director of Design for BRPH. “The design process recognized local character and cultural qualities of building resources to create a timeless design. Behind the building’s façade, we implemented design elements that will streamline the manufacturing capability of Beretta’s production lines.

The building is so much more than a support structure; it is essentially a supporting player in the company’s production capacity.”

As an incentive, Officials have already positioned the remaining 75 acres of the city-owned Industrial Center to attract new prospects, designating it as a Foreign Trade Zone, which allows companies that locate there to delay, reduce, or eliminate payment of U.S. Customs duty. The site is also one of a handful of sites designated by the state as a TN Certified Site, a designation that offers a screening advantage to prospective businesses by reducing the location risk for the site, saving construction time, and reducing site development costs.

Gallatin’s Mayor Paige Brown says there is still much to be done. “We are committed to continued growth, and I’m excited about the momentum the city has created. Now is the time to invite new clients to the table and show them what we’ve done with Beretta and tell them why they should be doing business in Gallatin.”

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