The good news is being celebrated with a construction groundbreaking planned at the Robert Wright Drive plant complex Wednesday.
“We’re a private, quiet company,” Bowers said. “We never sought the limelight. We’re a privately held company, with our headquarters in Japan. We just have a business to run — supporting a thousand families throughout the area.”
In all, the company is investing nearly $8 million in buildings and equipment in an expansion that will create 57 new jobs.
In its 29th year, the manufacturer has 625 workers in Brookville and more than 300 at a Maysville, Ky. plant. A maker of automotive weather strips, moldings and seals, the business was born of a joint venture between Ernie Green Industries and Tokai Kogyo. Green’s share was later bought out.
If you’re driving a quiet and comfortable Honda, you have Green Tokai to thank.
“When Honda first came here (to Ohio), Honda’s system was they wanted their suppliers to follow,” Bowers said. “Throughout Ohio you’ll find many Japanese manufacturers who followed Honda to Ohio.”
Though the company has been quiet, it has been reliable, county leaders say.
“They have consistently invested in their manufacturing operation with each expansion by bringing new jobs and investments,” Judy Dodge, Montgomery County Commission president, said in a statement.
Honda is Green Tokai’s biggest customer, but the business also supplies parts to other companies.
The Maysville plant was expanded two years ago. This time, it was Brookville’s turn. A nearby 42,000-square-foot building was purchased, and a new 50,000-square-foot building will be raised.
Simultaneously, another expansion is happening. In a building known as plant 2, across Carr Drive from the main plant, manufacturing work will take the place of logistics work.
“You’ve got to remember that right now is one of the best automotive business times that we’ve had as far as car sales,” Bowers said.
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