A Belgium-based manufacturer will build its first U.S. manufacturing plant in Bessemer City, creating some 150 to 200 local jobs.

Dhollandia MFG, LLC, a privately-held, family-owned manufacturer of hydraulic lifts for trucks and other vehicles, intends to begin building its some 160,000-square-foot advanced production facility and corporate office in the South Ridge Business Park in 2018. Over the next five years, the company is expected to invest some $30 million into Bessemer City and Gaston County.

“I think it’s a major windfall not only for Bessemer City but for Gaston County as far as first, initially the impact that they’re making in the community with their building and their equipment,” said James Inman, city manager of Bessemer City. “Their employees are going to be shopping at local businesses, buying gas at local stores, buying homes--it’s a domino effect that ripples in the economy.”

Dhollandia MFG is a subsidiary of Hydrotec Engineering, Ltd. and its parent company Dhollandia, NV. Dhollandia is a premium supplier of hydraulic lifting equipment and appliances. The parent company was founded in 1968 in Belgium. With its move to Bessemer City, Dhollandia plans to add manufacturing capacity to capture new opportunities in the growing North American market.

Dhollandia MFG plans to hire people for a variety of job functions at the new site, including engineers, production workers and managers. The new positions in Gaston County would pay annual salaries upward of $40,000.

“We are very excited about this project and our intention is to make it the most modern factory in our group with high-level technology and a training center for both internal training and training for end users,” said Lothar Burger, incoming CEO for Dhollandia MFG. “We very much look forward to start the project and we believe that North Carolina will prove to be a very supportive and reliable partner in the long-term relationship we would like to establish.”

Burger also said the company is looking forward to working with the local community and engaging with Gaston College to start an apprenticeship program. Gaston College has made great strides in the past several years to educate and train students for careers in manufacturing, including connecting them with apprenticeship and internship opportunities.

Gaston College recently opened its brand new Center for Advanced Manufacturing at its Dallas campus.

The company’s move into Gaston County will be facilitated, in part, by a Job Development Investment Grant approved by the state’s Economic Investment Committee on Thursday. Over the course of the 12-year term of this grant, the project is expected to grow the state’s economy by an estimated $223 million.

Steve Nye, marketing director with the Gaston County Economic Development Commission, said the EDC and Bessemer City leaders have been in frequent contact with Dhollandia principals for some time. Dhollandia owners and other representatives have made several visits to Bessemer City, while also considering a site in Georgia.

Ultimately, Nye says Dhollandia—a metalworking company--chose Bessemer City because of the site’s available electrical utilities and the existing metalworking presence in Gaston County.

“If you look at Gaston County, that is a real strong suit that we have here is metalworking,” said Nye. “Anything that’s metal, we can bend it, shape it, form it and put it together. I think they like that.”

The plant and corporate office will be constructed adjacent to the existing Dole Fresh Vegetables facility off Southridge Parkway on about 45 acres of land that the company will acquire in-part from the county and in-part from Alliance Real Estate. It will join Tosaf USA, an Israeli plastics manufacturing company, as the second international company to plant roots in the South Ridge Business Park in the past four years.

Hunter Douglas Window Designs, a Netherlands-based company, also operates along the Southridge Parkway.

As with Tosaf USA, Bessemer City will again loan office space inside City Hall to employees of Dhollandia MFG as it constructs the new location.

Nye says the Bessemer City plant could be operational a little over a year after groundbreaking, though no official timetable has been announced.

You can reach Eric Wildstein at 704-869-1828 or Twitter.com/TheGazetteEric.