Delays in procuring electrical switchgear and other equipment have pushed the construction of a terminal tractor plant in west Lowndes County to begin in May.
Terberg Taylor Americas Group held a groundbreaking ceremony of sorts Tuesday at the East Mississippi Community College Communiversity, about a mile from the 34-acre tract off Charleigh Ford Road north of Golden Triangle Regional Airport where the plant will one day operate. Still, dirt and shovels were brought to the Communiversity for the occasion.
Taylor Group President Robert Taylor told The Dispatch he hopes the project will be complete by mid-2024.
“We had some construction delays and supply chain delays, and we’re kind of putting ourselves in a little grace period to do that,” Taylor said. “We hope to beat that … mid-2024 (estimate).”
Taylor Group Companies, based in Louisville, and Netherlands-based Royal Terberg Group announced their joint venture in August 2022 for the Lowndes County plant. It will produce terminal tractors, which are blunt-nosed trucks used to move semi-truck trailers to and from loading docks that are often used at ports and other transit facilities.
Construction costs of the facility have also risen since the initial announcement. At the time, it expected to invest about $16 million, but because of the delays and inflation, that figure has now jumped to $20 million, Taylor said.
Once the facility is complete, Terberg Taylor Americas Group will hire 90 employees with an average salary of $51,500. Terberg Board Chairman Godfried Terberg told a crowd of more than 100 state legislators, business leaders and others attending the groundbreaking that the facility will produce about 750 tractors in the first year, and more than 3,000 tractors annually within three years of operating.
“We have the opportunities here,” Terberg said. “If you look at the quality of the products, we believe we can conquer this part of the world in this product line.”
Taylor said the new company also is partnering with EMCC and Mississippi State University to train its employees. The Communiversity, EMCC’s workforce development hub in Lowndes County, will play a vital role in that effort.
“To have a facility like this (Communiversity) less than a mile from our facility means everyday training for bringing in employment, recruiting, to be able to have meetings here while we’re building,” Taylor said. “It means everything.”
After the tractors begin rolling off of the line, they will sell for between $150,000 and $275,000, company representatives said at the groundbreaking. Over time, Terberg Taylor hopes to add three more construction phases to expand to a 200,000-square-foot facility.
Golden Triangle Development LINK Chief Executive Officer Joe Max Higgins said the joint venture between Taylor Group and Terberg will help improve the industrial development profile in the region.
“This is a great day for the Golden Triangle region,” Higgins said when he took the podium. “We are adding to our list of blue-chip, world-class companies. Taylor and Terberg are their industry’s gold standard. That, combined with the fact that they are led by leaders that are recognized outside the industry as a world-class talent, and the resources of the Golden Triangle, gives you a recipe for success.”
Gov. Tate Reeves, who attended the groundbreaking, also spoke highly of the joint venture.
“I think it really speaks to the kind of people we have in Mississippi,” Reeves told The Dispatch. “Because Terberg is a family company and Taylor company is here. This is a family-owned and operated company that treats its employees like family. And that’s what we’re going to see with the combination of these two great companies coming together, creating jobs here and really producing a product.”
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