Garmin International Inc., a unit of Garmin Ltd. (NASDAQ: GRMN), will undertake a $200 million facility expansion at its Olathe, KS campus.
“This is a significant investment in our associates and our company’s future,” said Cliff Pemble, Garmin CEO. “Our vision is to be an enduring company that is a leader in all markets that it serves. To accomplish this, we need a world-class facility that can attract and retain the highest level of talent.”
The company’s previously approved master plan will occur in two phases. The first phase includes an approximately 720,000-square-foot manufacturing and distribution center located on its Olathe campus, which will take two years to complete. A portion of the new development will expand manufacturing for the company’s aviation business segment. In addition, the capacity of the company’s North American distribution center will greatly increase.
The second phase of the expansion will include the renovation of the existing Garmin warehouse and manufacturing space into a research and development facility and supporting office space. This phase is expected to take an additional two years to finish, with the full project nearing completion in late 2020.
Once finished, the 96-acre Garmin campus will offer 2.1 million square feet of space, with room for up to 2,600 additional associates. Presently, there are approximately 2,800 on the Garmin campus, with another 600 associates located elsewhere in the greater Kansas City metropolitan area. There are roughly 11,400 Garmin associates worldwide.
The campus will include a fitness center, cafeteria, large gathering areas, athletic fields and a two-mile outdoor walking trail. Traffic improvements, like additional lanes and a stoplight, will accompany the project. Olathe Mayor Michael Copeland stated that a new loop road extending through the campus would be named Garmin Way. The Garmin campus’ official address will be changed to 1 Garmin Way.
“Garmin is a longtime resident of Olathe and the company is unquestionably a strong economic engine for the city,” said Mayor Copeland. “Just as importantly, many of their associates choose to make Olathe their home or contribute in other ways to our community, and for that we are grateful.”
