THOMASVILLE, Ga. (WTXL) - Thomasville is ready for a boost to the economy, thanks to a new company coming to town.
The Caterpillar building on U.S. 319 closed in November 2016.
Now, a New York business is moving into that space, and it's bringing in hundreds of jobs and millions of dollars over the next several years.
The name of the company won't be revealed until later, but Shelly Zorn with the Payroll Development Authority says they make magazines for firearms.
"They make the magazines inside the guns, for the who's who of the gun industry," said Zorn. "Colt, Sig, Smith & Wesson and Kimber."
They also make medical tooling, and that diversity attracted Zorn to their company. And since Georgia is a gun friendly state with a focus on outdoor living, Zorn says the family-owned company found Thomasville to be a perfect fit.
"The south, Thomasville, is very gun friendly, we understand the importance of safety, and understand responsible gun ownership. So, that was very appealing to them," Zorn explained.
Starting in 2019, and over the course of the next three to four years, Project Ridder, the code name for the company will be transitioning from Long Island, to Thomasville. Training employees in the process.
"It'll be a process. They'll bring down one line at a time, and bring it down in phases," said Zorn. "But, they have committed to bringing down their whole operation here to Thomasville and their corporate office as well."
Project Ridder will create around 230 jobs, and since Zorn revealed this information, she says she already received multiple resumes.
"If we help someone create one job, five jobs, 10 jobs that has a huge impact on a smaller rural community," said Zorn. "So this is a very large announcement. Probably the largest in Thomas County in 20 years."
Zorn says there are no structural concerns with this building, it just requires some cosmetic updates.
