TENNESSEE GOV. Bill Lee and the commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development (TNECD), Bob Rolfe, announced earlier this year that Ariens Company (AriensCo) will establish operations in Lincoln County, creating 369 new jobs in Fayetteville.
AriensCo — headquartered in Brillion, Wisconsin — will base its Tennessee operations in the former Goodman Manufacturing building on Wilson Parkway, investing $38 million to move there, according to a news release from the Fayetteville-Lincoln County Industrial Development Board (FLCIDB).
The company is a global outdoor power equipment manufacturer offering both lawn and garden, and snow removal equipment.
In the news release, AriensCo chairman and CEO Dan Ariens said he is excited to add Fayetteville to the places his company calls home. He continued on to say that AriensCo is not only a power equipment manufacturer: it’s a fourth-generation family business of passionate people dedicated to its customers.
“We are thrilled to bring employees from the Fayetteville area into the family business,” Ariens said. “This strategic location will bring more of our products to our dealer partners in the fast-growing Southern U.S. We owe a special thank you to Gov. Lee, and the city, county and state economic development folks who have been incredible to work with. Tennessee’s people are nothing short of amazing.”
AriensCo has been thriving in the outdoor power equipment industry for nearly 90 years, since its inception in 1933, boasting products at many independent power equipment dealers in North America and Europe. Today, over 2,250 people are employed across the company’s operations in the U.S., Norway, Germany, and the U.K.
The company’s expansion to Tennessee comes in response to a growing demand that has surpassed current production capacity. AriensCo will now be geographically closer to its dealer partners, material suppliers, and customers in the Southeastern U.S. The new Fayetteville site will also become the hub for AriensCo’s Gravely® brand of commercial outdoor power equipment.
Director of FLCIDB, Elaine Middleton, said communications with the manufacturer began toward the end of November 2021. It wasn’t until a few months into 2022 that AriensCo made the commitment to expand to Lincoln County. Since March, the company has been making modifications to its new Wilson Parkway facility to meet manufacturing needs and plans to kickoff production in April 2023. “AriensCo will be creating great job opportunities with competitive wages for the citizens in our community,” Middleton said.
In the news release, Lincoln County Mayor Bill Newman said the county is blessed to add AriensCo to its industrial base of great companies.
“I look forward to the Wilson Parkway facility once again being the center of manufacturing in that park,” Newman said. “Thanks goes out to Governor Lee and his staff, TVA (Tennessee Valley Authority), and our industrial development board and its director, Elaine Middleton, for all they have done to bring AriensCo’s new manufacturing and warehouse facility to Fayetteville and Lincoln County, Tennessee. Welcome, AriensCo.”
Sixty economic development projects in the Southern Middle Tennessee region have been supported by TNECD in the past five years, producing approximately $5.3 billion in capital investment and 8,400 job commitments. GN
