If you have a kid looking for a job, send them to the firearms industry. Remington Outdoor Company is expanding its business outside of unfriendly New York and creating 2000 jobs over the next ten years in Alabama. The company plans to build a new factory in the old Chrysler building in Huntsville and is being welcomed with open arms to The Heart of Dixie.
“I am honored to welcome Remington to Alabama,” Governor Robert Bentley said in a statement. “The Alabama workforce, our business climate and our quality of life continue to make Alabama extremely attractive to companies. Remington will soon experience the same type of success that other companies in Alabama have already experienced. Today’s announcement will create more than 2,000 jobs in Huntsville, and reflects a statewide capital investment of $110 million. Our relationship with Remington is just beginning, and I look forward to a continued partnership with the company.”
With increases in production, employment and record sales, necessary expansion is a direct result of a booming firearms industry. According to the National Shooting Sports Foundation, overall the firearms industry employs more than 200,000 people, has an economic impact of over $33 billion each year and provides the federal government with more than $4 billion in excise taxes each year.
“This additional capacity is essential to fulfill demand and introduce new products. Having watched our Company grow from 2,400 employees in 2008 to 4,200 employees by the end of 2013, a five year, 75 percent increase, it is easy to see why we’re investing now,” Remington Chairman and CEO George Kollitides said in the announcement. “We are capitalizing on this momentum by strengthening our positions across the board. With demand for our products at an historic high and more new product launches planned for 2014 than ever before in our 200-year history, we are investing in the future.”
Remington's announcement comes just a year after New York lawmakers passed strict gun control measures through the S.A.F.E. Act. and just three weeks after Beretta announced expansion to Tennessee after harsh gun control laws were implemented last year in Maryland.
Fun exit side note: I was in a Remington television commercial once when I was 12-years-old.