German farm equipment manufacturer Geringhoff is investing $20 million to establish a factory in St. Cloud, where it expects to employ 100 people, the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) announced Tuesday.
 
The St. Cloud facility will be Geringhoff’s first in North America. The plant will be located in St. Cloud’s Airport Industrial Park, where Geringhoff purchased a 110,000-square-foot building. The company will manufacture corn harvesting equipment and other farm equipment at the site.
 
DEED spokesman Blake Chaffee told Twin Cities Business that Geringhoff has already started interviewing for the 100 positions, and the company expects the factory to start producing by May 2013.
 
Geringhoff evaluated more than 40 prospective sites across North America before settling on the St. Cloud location, according to DEED.
 
The company will receive a $500,000 forgivable loan from the State of Minnesota under the Minnesota Investment Fund program and tax incentives through the state’s Job Opportunity Building Zone (JOBZ) program.
 
Joseph Jandrisch, president of Geringhoff’s North American operations, said in a statement that the company chose St. Cloud because of the “quality of the local work force and enthusiasm and support of the regional government agencies.”

St. Cloud’s proximity to suppliers of raw materials that are required to manufacture farm equipment, including fabricated metal, also helped attract Geringhoff to the region, according to DEED.
 
“We are very proud and deeply grateful that Geringhoff has chosen Minnesota to launch their U.S. operations,” Governor Mark Dayton said in a statement. “These new jobs are extremely important to St. Cloud and to Minnesota. We look forward to working with Geringhoff to encourage future growth in our state.”
 
Geringhoff is a privately held company that was founded in 1880. CEO Daniel Hansmeier said in a statement that St. Cloud will be the company’s foundation “to create an even larger presence across North America as we introduce a significant number of new products that are currently under development.”