Hunter Engineering in Durant broke ground Monday on its $8 million expansion.
Governor Phil Byrant and other Mississippi leaders were in attendance for the event.
“As I go through Hunter Engineering, I see what this country can really be about,” said Bryant. “Manufacturing will lead the way and Mississippi will help, because in Mississippi we manufacture products that are the envy of the world.”
Hunter Engineering manufactures wheel alignment and balancing systems.
In September, the company announced its plans to expand the current building by 80,000 square feet. The expansion will also add 60 new jobs.
“These new jobs can and will change people’s lives,” said Durant Plant Manager Wayne Bowling “I am so proud to be affiliated with Hunter Engineering company. I am even more proud to be associated with the quality of the people who work together and make up the Durant Hunter Engineering Family”
MDA spokeswoman Tammy Craft told the Associated Press the jobs qualify for incentives rebating some worker income taxes to the company. That requires Hunter pay workers at least $32,930 annually.
“Our goal is to push forward to be better today than yesterday and to be better tomorrow than today,” said Bowling. “That makes us such a successful team and inspires the state of Mississippi, the City of Durant and The Brauer Family to invest in this location.”
The expansion is expected to be completed by 2020.
