Polaris Industries Inc. announced plans to build a new production facility in Huntsville, Ala., to provide additional capacity and flexibility as the company continues to experience rapid growth. Located Southwest of Huntsville City Center, the 600,000 square-foot facility will focus on off-road vehicle production.

Polaris selected Huntsville due to its skilled workforce, history of technology and innovation, existing utility infrastructure, and strong local and state resources supporting economic development. The 453-acre Huntsville site offers Polaris close proximity to its key customer base in the Southeast U.S. and strong logistics network.

 “This new facility will complement our already strong and growing North American manufacturing footprint by reducing pressure on our existing facilities and enable each to remain focused on their current product lines as we continue to meet the demand for our innovative, quality products,” said Ken Pucel, executive vice president of operations, engineering, and lean, Polaris Industries Inc. “We are grateful to the city of Huntsville and the state of Alabama for their support as we invest in our shared future.”

Polaris will design and develop a lean and flexible facility to drive continuous improvement from the start. The new plant in Alabama will become part of our North American plant network and will reduce complexity within the existing plant network and enable logistics optimization. The facility will have multiple assembly lines providing flexibility to quickly replenish demand and support continued product innovations. Equipped with state-of-the-art technologies, the plant will support several core processes including, vehicle assembly, chassis and body painting, welding, fabrication and injection molding. At full capacity, the site will employ at least 1,700 people.

“I am honored to welcome Polaris Industries to Alabama,” said Governor Robert Bentley. “The Alabama workforce, our business climate and our quality of life continue to make Alabama extremely attractive to companies. I am confident that Polaris will soon experience the same type of success that other companies in Alabama have already experienced. Alabama’s success in advanced manufacturing is a result of the state’s successful Accelerate Alabama plan, and Polaris’ off-road vehicle production strategy fits perfectly within our manufacturing goals. Today’s announcement will create at least 1,700 well-paying jobs in Huntsville. I look forward to the completion of this state of the art facility next year, and a continued partnership with Polaris.”

Polaris will break ground on the Huntsville facility in the first quarter of 2015 with completion slated for early in the second quarter of 2016. Production will begin shortly thereafter.