Transport company supporting Mazda Toyota to bring 100 jobs to Athens

Marian Accardi, The Decatur Daily, Ala.
·2 min read

Jun. 30—A transport company that will support operations at the $2.3 billion Mazda Toyota Manufacturing USA plant is locating in Athens, with plans to hire an estimated 100 workers, officials said.

KC Logistics approached the city of Athens earlier this month with an offer to buy property in Breeding Industrial Park south of U.S. 72 to build a logistics center. The Athens City Council on Monday night approved the sale of 12.65 acres on Durham Drive to the Carleton, Michigan-based company for $250,000. The site is next to Intech, formerly Turner Medical.

The company expects to hire about 100 employees, including drivers, mechanics and technical support personnel, and invest more than $12 million on a new building, tractors and trailers, said the company's chief financial officer Joseph G. Smith, in a letter to Athens Mayor Ronnie Marks. KC Logistics wants to set up a temporary office trailer on the site to begin hiring employees.

According to Marks, KC Logistics is a tier 3 company that will transport seats manufactured at Athens-based TBAKI to Mazda Toyota. Marks said the operation will further diversify the local workforce.

"I suspect they'll be moving dirt" at the site around September or October, Marks said.

KC Logistics is "yet another supplier for Mazda Toyota as a result of Mazda Toyota," said Bethany Shockney, the president and CEO of the Limestone County Economic Development Association. "But most importantly for our community," the jobs will require a different set of skills than typical manufacturing assembly jobs.

"When you can step out and get job opportunities with different skill sets, that's when you have a well-rounded workforce," she said.

Earlier this month, Mazda Toyota, which will start production later this year, revealed that the Toyota Corolla Cross will be the first of the two all-new vehicles it will build at its plant on Greenbrier Parkway. A yet-to-be-announced Mazda vehicle will also be built at the plant.

The Mazda Toyota facility has the capacity to produce 300,000 vehicles a year, and production will be evenly split between the two models.

"KC Logistics Inc. is looking forward to our expansion into the community of Athens, Alabama," KC Logistics CEO Kenyon Calender said in a statement. "We are excited to provide long-term employment to the residents of Athens and to be an asset of the community."

— marian.accardi@decaturdaily.com or 256-340-2438. Twitter @DD_MAccardi.