Canada’s Dorel Industries is deepening its impact in coastal Georgia, with two separate divisions of the conglomerate netting accolades last month for investments in Bryan and Effingham counties.
Dorel Home Products was honored Oct. 26 at the Prosperity for Trade luncheon, where the World Trade Center Savannah named the furnishings company its International Business of the Year, a designation sponsored by Georgia Southern University.
DHP has had a distribution facility in Bryan County since 2016. Attended by acting Canadian Consul General Louise Blais, the event highlighted the global economic development successes of the 16-county region the World Trade Center Savannah covers. Financial journalist and bestselling author Ron Insana, now an analyst and commentator on CNBC, keynoted the event, which also featured an update by Georgia Ports Authority Executive Director Griff Lynch.
But that wasn’t the only splash Dorel would make during the week: Global Atlanta reported last November that a subsidiary of Dorel Sports, Pacific Cycling, would take an initial 774,000 square feet at a 1.1 million square-foot distribution center in Rincon, Ga. At the time, 60 warehouse roles were the only positions announced, though the company hinted at expansion into the full premises.
But on Oct. 27, almost a year later, Gov. Brian Kemp announced that Dorel Sports’s Cycling Sports Group, one of its three divisions along with Pacific Cycling and Brazil-based Caloi, would locate an assembly plant for the high-end Cannondale brand in Effingham County, hiring 60 and doubling its workforce to 120 and opening assembly operations in the remaining space in the building.
“We have enjoyed working with the Cannondale team over the past year as they opened their new distribution facility here, and we look forward to continuing to support them as they add new manufacturing jobs to our community,” Troy Smith, chairman of the Effingham County Industrial Development Authority, said in a news release.
The facility will help Cannondale meet its local and global growth strategies, executives said.
“Cannondale is breaking out of the pack to secure its future as a leading global brand,” said Peter Woods, CEO and president of Dorel Sports, the bicycle manufacturer’s parent company. “The opening of the facility in Georgia is another step toward our mission of making cycling a part of everyone’s life. The momentum of our plans is in full swing and that means bringing more Cannondale bikes closer to our dealers and their customers.”
Based in Montreal, Dorel Industries Inc. has annual sales of $2.8 billion and employs approximately 8,200 people in 25 countries.
Soon, however, coastal Georgia could trade French Canadian for Dutch corporate citizens: Dorel Sports, the bicycle division of Dorel Industries, has reportedly agreed to be purchased by Pon Holdings, based in Amsterdam, creating a two-wheeled powerhouse with combined revenues of $2.9 billion.
Other nominees for the International Business of the Year Award included:
- CZM USA is a drilling equipment supplier founded in Brazil that became the largest manufacturer of drilling rigs for construction and infrastructure in the U.S. in 2020. (Bryan County)
- Dorel Industries is a Canadian company that employs approximately 8,900 people in 25 countries (Bryan County)
- ESP Specialties & Fabrications Inc. is a fabric and machine shop specializing in the production of electrostatic precipitator and bag house filtrations. ESP exports to Canada, Mexico and Austria. (Charlton County)
- MAP International is a Christian organization dedicated to delivering medicine and healthy supplies to those in need across the globe. MAP has served 86 countries. (Glynn County)
- PaR Marine is an intelligence solution provider which was recognized in a PBS documentary for its global engineering and manufacturing centers. (Glynn County)
- Georgia Transformers has a mission to build the most reliable power transformer using time-tested processes and is the fourth largest transformer producer in North America. (Effingham County)
- Anatolia Tile + Stone is a 100% Canadian-owned, family-run leading importer and distributor of ceramic and stone tile throughout Canada, the U.S. and other countries worldwide. (Chatham County)
- International Paper’s Savannah Mill is celebrating 85 years of production and service in Savannah, and 80 to 85 percent of its products are exported worldwide. (Chatham County)
- Leonica Technology Solutions, LLC is a business process integration and IT services company that is the only Georgia-based full-services African American and women-owned internationally operating technology firm. (Chatham County)
- The Salt Table produces high-quality food products and is an avid partner with trade organizations including WTCSav, Visit Savannah, The Halle, Germany/Savanah Sister City Initiative and the Georgia Grown Commodity Commission. (Chatham County)
