Ziehl

Ziehl-Abegg president Marc Wucherer, right, provides Winston-Salem Mayor Allen Joines with insight into how the manufacturer's ventilation devices work.

Ziehl-Abegg Inc. officials break ground on the company's new site on Millennium Drive in Winston-Salem in February. The company is moving its operations from Greensboro to Winston-Salem.

The groundbreaking Wednesday for the $100 million Ziehl-Abegg Inc. production plant came with a new expansion development for the German manufacturer.

The company makes motors and fans for commercial ventilation systems.

The groundbreaking signified the start of Ziehl-Abegg's transition from a Greensboro facility with about 230 employees to a 522,000-square-foot plant on a 71-acre tract in southeastern Winston-Salem.

Production is expected to commence in 2024.

Marc Wucherer, the company's president, told local elected and civic leaders that Ziehl-Abegg plans to create an additional 100 jobs.

That would put the workforce at up to 600 rather than the 500 pledged as part of its economic-incentive requests. Local officials say that in 10 years it could have 800 employees.

Joachim Ley, chief operating officer of Ziehl-Abegg, said the company would start with 189 employees at the new site, but anticipates "growing to over 500 employees very rapidly."

Wucherer acknowledged the challenge of competing for employees in a growing, advanced manufacturing base, highlighted by a Toyota electric vehicle battery plant in Liberty.

"It won't be an easy task," Wucherer said, adding that one advantage for Ziehl-Abegg is the "variety of jobs we will be creating."

The plant, which will serve as its North American operational base, represents the company's single-largest one-site capital investment in its 130-year history.

"It is an enormous investment for us," Wucherer said. "This site gives us plenty of expansion room.

"It will allow us to shorten delivery times, be closer with our research and development, and build stronger relationships with our North American customers.

"It is the result of increasing demand for quiet, reliable, highly efficient and energy-saving fans that can play a role in helping protect the environment," Wucherer said.

Winston-Salem Mayor Allen Joines said the project "is a home run for us in a number of ways."

"It is a manufacturing company with jobs that pay $50,000 to $60,000 per year. It is exactly the type of company we want as part of our economic fabric."

Founded in 1910 as a motor manufacturer, Ziehl-Abegg produces industrial fan systems and motors, and has almost 5,000 employees worldwide.

The company makes fans for various commercial applications including hospitals, schools, data centers and various agricultural uses.

"Megatrends such as digitalization, climate change and urbanization are leading to a growth in demand and call for a significant increase in our production capacities," Ley said. "The U.S. market is fundamentally very important for us and is driving the expansion in North America."

Mirco Herrmann, managing director of the North American market for Ziehl-Abegg, said the company's experience operating in the Triad made the new site "a prime location to consider for our expansion in the U.S."

"Forsyth County offers the talent that fosters our success as a company, and is committed to developing the manufacturing workforce here, so we know there will always be great people with the right skills to grow our team," he said.

Local economic development officials said Ziehl-Abegg is already a partner employer of two local apprenticeship programs: the Learn and Earn Apprenticeship Program (LEAP) at Forsyth Technical Community College, and Guilford Apprenticeship Partners (GAP).

"It will take time to train our employees through the community colleges," Wucherer said.

"We knew of the manufacturing heritage of this region, people who are willing to work hard in production, and that's why we’re not worried about finding the right people to come on board."

A performance-based grant of $400,000 from the One North Carolina Fund, dependent on a capital investment from the company of $24.5 million, will help with Ziehl-Abegg's expansion in North Carolina.

Winston-Salem is providing about $630,000 in incentives, and Forsyth County is paying $430,000 in incentives.

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