A $50 million manufacturing facility will bring 400 new jobs to Athens in a ripple effect of the giant Mazda Toyota Manufacturing USA plant under construction in Huntsville.

Gov. Kay Ivey announced Wednesday at Athens City Hall that Toyota Boshoku will build its supplier facility about 30 miles from the $1.6 billion MTMUS plant being built in eastern Limestone County.

“When we talk about building on our successes and maintaining our momentum, this is how it’s done,” Ivey said. “We share with our companies our unparalleled workforce. We create a very positive business-friendly climate that encourages success and growth. We work with the companies that choose to be made in Alabama, that they will be excellent in their endeavors.”

The Toyota Boshoku facility is the first announcement of “indirect jobs” to come to north Alabama as a result of the Mazda Toyota plant. Those indirect jobs are expected to be possibly more than twice as many as the 4,000 direct jobs coming to the MTMUS plant once it’s operating at full capacity.

“You’re probably talking about 12,000 employees, maybe 15,000,” Alabama Secretary of State Greg Canfield said Wednesday in an interview with AL.com.

The new Athens factory will produce seat systems for vehicles built at the MTMUS plant. The Toyota Boshoku facility will be on 42 acres in the Breeding North Industrial Park on Sanderfer Road. The industrial park is south of U.S. 72 and west of U.S. 31. The company anticipates starting construction around May 1, 2019.

The industrial site includes the current location of Jimmy Gill Park on Sanderfer Road near the Hine Street intersection. Marks said the company is assisting the city of Athens in relocating the park with the blessing of the Gill family.

According to the Toyota Boshoku America website, the company develops and manufactures automotive interior products, filters, powertrain components and fabric goods and Toyota Boshoku worldwide has about 41,409 employees. The company’s U.S. manufacturing sites are in Tennessee, Illinois, Indiana, Mississippi, South Carolina and Kentucky.

Joining Ivey at the announcement was Shuhei Toyoda, chair of Toyota Boshoku, as well as Alabama Secretary of Commerce Greg Canfield, Speaker of the House Mac McCutcheon, state Sen. Arthur Orr and Athens Mayor Ronnie Marks.

“Athens attracting one of the first Tier 1 suppliers for MTMUS speaks to our city’s attractiveness as a community and our great working relationship with several entities on industrial development,” Marks said in a statement. “From the state of Alabama to our Limestone County Economic Development Association and our other partners, we work well together to help industries invest in our community and provide jobs for our citizens. Athens appreciates Toyota Boshoku being the latest to invest in our city.”

Ivey highlighted that the Toyota Boshoku facility is the first of what’s expected to be a wave of new industry coming to north Alabama, an extra infusion of growth on top of the MTMUS plant.

“This is only the beginning of a growing cluster of automotive suppliers with Mazda Toyota Manufacturing,” Ivey said.

Canfield said state officials are working to secure more suppliers for north Alabama. Toyota Boshoku is the first formal announcement of a new supplier to Alabama, Canfield said, while some suppliers already in Alabama are pursuing deals with MTMUS.

“We are currently working with Mazda Toyota on their supply chain strategies so there are going to be other announcements that will follow,” Canfield said. “There are existing suppliers that are already embedded in the state who are competing for and possibly being awarded other contracts.”

Ultimately, Canfield said the indirect jobs associated with the MTMUS plant could be between 8,000 and 12,000 additional jobs -- a ripple effect expected to become an economic wave for the Huntsville area.

“Once we get up and operational with 4,000 direct employees at the (original equipment manufacturer) plant, at that time, we will probably see two to three times the number of employees in the automotive supply chain,” Canfield said.

“We’re going to do everything we can to have as many of them in Alabama. We are fully aware and expect that we’ll see some activity in Tennessee as well as Mississippi.”

Toyoda said Athens was an appealing location for the Toyota Boshoku plant.

“When we began our search for a new site to build our production facility, we looked at many locations," Toyoda said in a statement. "After an extensive search, we determined that Athens Alabama is the perfect fit. We are grateful for the assistance from the State of Alabama, the City of Athens and Limestone County to make this project a reality.”

Updated today, April 10, 2019, at 3:41 p.m. with new information throughout.