Few jobs are expected to be lost as the Textron Specialized Vehicles’ facility at 3464 Mike Padgett Hwy. plans to close its doors.
The 238-acre property is for sale, and its operations will shift to Textron’s facility at 1451 Marvin Griffin Rd. and to their Ipswich, England site, according to Textron’s media contact, Brandon Haddock.
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“We’ve already moved some of the operations in the Mike Padgett facility to the Marvin Griffin Road facility in Augusta,” Haddock said.
In terms of losing jobs in the process, Haddock said that should be “negligible.”
While he did not know how many people were working in the Mike Padgett Highway location, Haddock said Textron employs about 1,300 people in Augusta overall.
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“We’ve continued to maintain our employment levels pretty consistently,” he said. “Some of the work is staying in Augusta, and with those jobs we have moving to England, we’ve worked to find roles for almost all of those folks elsewhere within our operation.”
Haddock said the move has already seen substantial progress. They are currently working to complete the move out of the facility so the property is ready for the next tenant.
Haddock declined further comment.
Textron received $600,000 through a Georgia Department of Economic Development project development grant as well as $1.6 million in job training assistance from the Georgia Quick Start program, according to a 2016 press release from the company.
Textron agreed to generate 400 new jobs and invest $40 million in the community over a five-year period that expired this year. Prior to the expansion, Textron employed nearly 1,000 people in Georgia, according to the same press release from 2016.
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Textron was founded in Augusta in 1954. The Mike Padgett Highway facility consists of 630,800 square feet of space. The building is for sale for $18.9 million.
According to deeds recorded with the Richmond County Clerk of Superior Court, Textron acquired the facility in March of 2016. Previously, the facility was operated out by Proctor & Gamble.
Tyler Strong is the Business Editor for The Augusta Press. Reach him at tyler@theaugustapress.com.
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