Governor Bentley Participates in Grand Opening Events for Polaris Industries

By: Daniel Sparkman, Deputy Press Secretary & Director of Digital Media

MADISON (Governor’s Office) – Governor Robert Bentley on Tuesday participated in the grand opening and ribbon cutting of the new Polaris Huntsville Center of Manufacturing Excellence.

The state-of-the-art manufacturing facility will support several core processes including: vehicle assembly, chassis and body painting, welding, fabrication and injection molding for off-road vehicles. The facility is 910,000 square feet and is located on 505 acres.

“Polaris is the perfect addition to Alabama’s manufacturing sector,” Governor Bentley said. “We are proud of the strides we are making in advanced manufacturing. Our focus is to provide companies with a strong workforce through Alabama Industrial Development Training. AIDT works hard every day to provide the necessary training to prepare employees for these skilled jobs. The Alabama team will continue to work with Polaris and other companies to ensure their success in our state.”

AIDT has worked with Polaris since August 2015 conducting interviews and pre-employment training. To date over 15,000 people have applied for jobs, with AIDT reviewing over 7,100 applications. Of those applicants, 676 people successfully completed pre-employment training and were presented to Polaris as potential candidates for employment.

Polaris currently employs 400 hourly team members and 90 salaried team members with plans to employ 1,700 team members.

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