Construction is well underway for the latest addition to Bulloch County's Gateway Industrial Park. Located at 311 A.J. Riggs Road, the new Thermo King plant is scheduled to be completed by June.
      "This plant will be installing and commissioning new Thermo King refrigeration units for the Great Dane manufacturing plant located across the street," said Kent Wilson, vice president of Thermo King of North Florida, located in Jacksonville.   "We plan to employ 10 to 20 plus at this location."
      Thermo King Corporation, a business unit of diversified industrial firm Ingersoll-Rand Company Limited, manufactures transport temperature control systems for a variety of mobile applications, including trailers, truck bodies, buses, shipboard containers and railway cars.
      The first Thermo King unit was created in Minneapolis, MN in 1938 by Frederick Jones in order to get freshly-killed chickens to market without spoilage. According to the company's website, his invention worked so well that it spawned entire industries including frozen food, fast food, and container shipping.
      The company operates 10 manufacturing facilities and 17 parts distribution centers worldwide. Sales and service is provided by a global dealer network of 865 independently owned companies in 75 countries.
      David Holland serves as chairman of the Development Authority of Bulloch County. Holland is very encouraged by the sudden surge of construction in the industrial park.
      "We're very pleased that Thermo King will be locating its Statesboro facility in Gateway Industrial Park," Holland said. "This is another example of the benefits our community will receive from the effort we made to secure the new Great Dane plant."
      The 16,000-square-foot plant is located on 6.8 acres within the park. According to Benjy Thompson, CEO of the Development Authority of Bulloch County, there are 200 acres of available industrial property remaining in the Park.
      "The Development Authority is working with another Great Dane vendor on locating its facility in Bulloch County," Thompson said.
      Thermo King of North Florida, owner of the Statesboro facility, started in 1981 in Jacksonville as a Thermo King Corporation authorized sales and service facility for trailer and truck refrigeration units, and authorized sales and service for bus air conditioning units. In 1992, the company opened a second facility in Savannah, and in 2009, a third facility in Ocala, Fla.
      Wilson said that anyone interested in applying for a job as a technician with the plant can send their resume to the following address: tksales@thermokingsav.com.
      Great Dane is nearing completion of its 450,000-square-foot facility on a 118-acre site in the park. In its first phase, the plant will have the capacity to produce more than 5,000 trailers annually, employing more than 400 workers. It is scheduled to begin production in April.