Employers
Mitsubishi Power Americas plans to invest $490 million to expand its gas turbine factory near Pooler in Chatham County, Georgia, a project the company and the state say will create more than 220 new jobs. Gov. Brian Kemp’s office announced the expansion Friday, Oct. 23, describing it as doubling the company’s existing Georgia footprint.
The jobs are planned, not filled. Neither the governor’s office nor the company gave a hiring schedule, wage levels or the value of any state or local incentives, and no groundbreaking date has been set. The Savannah Economic Development Authority said a ceremony to mark the start of construction will be held at a later date.
What is being built
The project centers on Savannah Machinery Works, the company’s plant at 1000 Pine Meadow Drive. According to the governor’s office, the expansion will add 450,000 square feet. Mitsubishi Power’s own announcement, distributed through Business Wire, puts the existing facility at 430,000 square feet, which is consistent with the state’s description of a footprint roughly doubling in size.
The plant makes parts for gas turbines, and the company said the added space will bring more machining capacity and new manufacturing technology. Mitsubishi Power framed the investment around rising U.S. demand for electric power generation equipment. The money comes from its Tokyo-based parent, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.
Savannah TV station WTOC reported that the company hopes to have the expansion operating by early 2029. That target was not included in the governor’s release, and the company’s announcement referred more broadly to additional expansions planned through 2028 across its operations in the Americas.
The jobs on offer
The governor’s office said Mitsubishi Power will hire for roles in manufacturing, operations, heavy machinery and technician work, and directed applicants to the company’s careers page. The company’s announcement listed a broader set of functions it expects the project to create opportunities in: manufacturing, engineering, quality, maintenance, logistics and support.
Neither source said how many people currently work at Savannah Machinery Works. Mitsubishi Power Americas said it employs more than 3,500 people across the company, a figure that covers all of its operations, not the Georgia plant alone. Without a current site headcount, the 220-plus figure cannot be translated into a percentage increase in local employment.
“Meeting the growing demand for power will require investment in facilities, in our supply chain and in our workforce,” Bill Newsom, president and CEO of Mitsubishi Power Americas, said in the company’s announcement.
Brandon Bodie, vice president of operations at Savannah Machinery Works, told WTOC that the local workforce and access to port and rail were deciding factors, and that the company is “committed to being an employer here in this region that supports the growth of the workforce.”
A plant with a long Georgia history
The Pooler plant broke ground in September 2009 and was completed in September 2010, according to the company. It was the first complete gas turbine manufacturing plant Mitsubishi built outside Japan. The company said it shipped its first U.S.-made gas turbine from the site in October 2012 and its 50th advanced-class gas turbine in June 2023.
SEDA President and CEO Trip Tollison told WTOC the company reviewed many sites before choosing to expand in Chatham County. The project was supported by SEDA, the Georgia Department of Economic Development, Georgia Power and Georgia Quick Start, the state’s workforce training program; the governor’s release did not describe what training or incentives each partner will provide.
What it means for job seekers
For coastal Georgia, the announcement adds skilled manufacturing and technician demand in a region already shaped by port and logistics employment. The project is in the Savannah area, not metro Atlanta, and its effect on statewide figures will depend on when construction finishes and how quickly the company hires.
Readers should treat the 220-plus figure as a company commitment over a multi-year build-out rather than openings available today. The company’s careers page, not the announcement, is the place to check which positions are actually posted.
Sources
- Office of the Governor of Georgia, “Gov. Kemp: Mitsubishi Power Doubles Footprint in Chatham County,” October 23, 2026. https://gov.georgia.gov/press-releases/2026-10-23/gov-kemp-mitsubishi-power-doubles-footprint-chatham-county
- Mitsubishi Power (Business Wire, via 01net), “Mitsubishi Power Announces $490 Million Investment in Savannah Facility to Support Rising Power Generation Needs,” October 23, 2026. https://www.01net.it/mitsubishi-power-announces-490-million-investment-in-savannah-facility-to-support-rising-power-generation-needs/
- WTOC, “Mitsubishi Power to invest $490M, add 220 jobs in Chatham County,” October 23, 2026. https://www.wtoc.com/2026/10/23/mitsubishi-power-invest-490m-add-220-jobs-chatham-county/
Featured photo: Axial compressor rotor of a large gas turbine on display at the Deutsches Museum in Munich, photographed Feb. 1, 2024. Representative image; not Mitsubishi Power equipment or the Savannah Machinery Works plant. Photo: Wilfredo Rafael Rodriguez Hernandez (Wilfredor), via Wikimedia Commons (CC0). Cropped from the original.
