A new sign has been installed on the former Procter and Gamble building on Mike Padgett Highway and Marvin Griffin Road, announcing the arrival of Richmond County’s newest corporate citizen.
Generac, the Wisconsin-based manufacturer of portable and backup generators for residential and commercial use, has opened a distribution center. The 500,000 sq. ft. center joins E-Z-Go Textron on the old P&G property.
“Our newest facility here in Augusta, Georgia, today is a big reflection point. This has been a large investment for us as we’ve cemented our south and Southeast,” Ricky Bellian, Senior Director of Global Distribution for Generac, told the dozens attending the grand opening. “This facility, it’s our fifth in Generac, is a constant investment in our distribution organization and ability to service our customers.”
Cal Wray, President of the Augusta Economic Development Authority (AEDA), told ABD the P&G building was one of two the company considered as a location for the manufacturing plant that ultimately went to Edgefield County.
“They took the spec building that was in Edgefield, S.C. The Procter and Gamble facility was one of the buildings they spent countless man-hours reviewing and try to make work. They had done countless visit studies looking to see which one would make more sense. Edgefield was a spec building. This was a retrofit building, and they decided to go with the spec building because it was a blank slate,” he explained.
Kyle Raabe, President of Consumer Power, said that during a storm, when thousands of people are without power, Generac wants to respond quickly. The new distribution center in Augusta will facilitate the distribution of equipment.
“We’ve moved this distribution facility, which is now a key facility for us to be able to service those consumers in the southeast who get hit by storms year in and year out,” he explained. “Over the last 23 years, over 80% of the power outages across the country have all been a result of major weather, of which the southeast is really kind of the epicenter. This facility gives us the ability to service the customers in the southeast faster, more effectively, the smarter than we ever have in the past.”
Wray said the center on Mike Padgett Highway is Generac’s first location in Georgia.
“They don’t have facilities in many states. Most of their facilities are located around their Wisconsin hub,” he said. “They had a few in Illinois, then they had South Carolina. If you look at their facilities, if you look at their headquarters in Wisconsin, most of them ring around that in the Wisconsin area.”
The opening comes just one year shy of the anniversary of Hurricane Helene slamming into metro Augusta. Raabe said, at that time, construction was underway on the facility. Had it been open, it would have been a major component in shipping generators.
Raabe told ABD the selection of the former P&G building was purposeful, due to its proximity to the company’s manufacturing plant for home standby products in Edgefield County. The Trenton facility opened in 2021.
“We chose it truly based on proximity to our manufacturing facility, which is less than 30 minutes away for home standby products, as well as proximity to highways, interstates,” he said. “It’s far enough inland that it wouldn’t typically take a direct hit from a hurricane, but yet it’s close enough to be able to service the people that do live along the coastlines affected by the hurricane.”
The company can ship directly to customers, or customers will be able to pick up their generator from the Augusta center.
The center is starting with 39 employees and is expected to increase to 60. Raabe said the company expects to continue to grow in Richmond County.
“We put a footprint down, and we tend to stay in a footprint,” he said. “To the people of Augusta, we’re happy to be here. We expect to grow. We expect to be in the community for a long period of time.”
