OFS to Expand Carrollton Plant and Create 149 Jobs
OFS Fitel, LLC, a manufacturer of optical fiber products, will create 200 jobs and invest $138.9 million in the expansion of both their Norcross and Carrollton facilities.
Approximately 149 of the 200 new jobs will be in Carrollton and the local investment is $50 million. The Carrollton plant is located on Columbia Drive.
“I think we as a county are extremely fortunate that OFS decided to expand here locally,” said Marty Smith, chairman of the Carroll County Board of Commissioners. “It’s great to see one of our major local partners continue with their success and growth. We recognize the fact that Industries of this size and magnitude obviously have many choices and opportunity to expand worldwide. We sincerely appreciate that their choice was Carroll County.”
Lindsay Martin, director of the Georgia Department of Economic Development’s Existing Industry and Regional Recruitment, represented the Global Commerce division in collaboration with Partnership Gwinnett, Carroll Tomorrow, Georgia Power and Carroll EMC.
“We are fortunate to have a long-standing relationship with OFS that provides them assurances of a quality workforce and local partnerships that make doing business in Carroll County a win-win proposition,” said Daniel Jackson, president and CEO of Carroll Tomorrow. “As an industry leader with global expansion options, we are proud OFS made the decision to continue their investment in Carroll County.”
Pat Wilson, commissioner of the Georgia Department of Economic Development, congratulated both Carroll and Gwinnett County on the expansion. He said that OFS has been an valuable corporate citizen.
“It is always a win when an existing industry commits to an expansion, but what makes this announcement even more impactful that is that OFS is creating job opportunities at two facilities in the state,” said Wilson.
OFS is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Japanese parent company, Furukawa Electric Co., Ltd. In 2017 Furukawa Electric announced plans to nearly double its 2016 optical fiber manufacturing capacity by 2019 and to increase its optical fiber cable manufacturing capacity. Japan is a leading investor nation in Georgia, ranking first among Georgia’s international investors based on total dollar value of investments, and third based on the total number of facilities.
