U.S. natural gas production has seen a sharp incline for the past several years, growing from 18 trillion cubic feet in 2005 to more than 24 trillion cubic feet last year, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. That growth, which even outpaces consumption, is led by activities in shale gas production.
Yokogawa Corporation of America, which makes measurement, control and automation for these and other industries, is expanding its North American presence in direct response to the increased demand. The company held a groundbreaking ceremony yesterday to celebrate the expansion of its facility in Newnan, Ga., just south of Atlanta.
“In the more than 20 years I have worked for Yokogawa here in North America, I have never seen such strong demand for our growing portfolio of products, solutions and services,” said Brad Byrum, North American vice president of sales and marketing for Yokogawa. “While we have grown consistently over these 20 years, the current economic growth directly and indirectly related to shale energy, and unconventional oil and gas in general, with the accompanying growth of downstream chemical investment, has fueled demand from both our loyal existing customers, as well as many new customers who are just now discovering the high quality and performance of our portfolio.”
Yokogawa has been manufacturing its instrumentation products in Georgia for more than 30 years. In addition to the facility expansion, the company expects to increase its fulltime North American headcount to more than 1,000 by 2015. “This current facility expansion here in Georgia will give us the capacity to continue our proud heritage of continuous improvement for our rapidly growing list of customers,” said Richard Westerfield, North American vice president of Yokogawa’s Measurement & Control Business Unit.
