Caterpillar invests $20M in SC manufacturing plant

[March 15, 2012]  PEORIA (AP) -- Equipment maker Caterpillar Inc. plans to spend $20 million to expand one of its South Carolina manufacturing plants to handle growing demand.

Caterpillar said Wednesday that the expansion in Sumter, S.C., will add more than 80 jobs at the plant over the next two years.

The project will nearly triple the size of the Sumter plant. It will make large hydraulic cylinders that Caterpillar currently makes at its Joliet plant.

Caterpillar is shifting that work away from Joliet to allow that plant to expand production of other products to help meet growing demand for the company's construction and mining equipment.

Caterpillar, based in Peoria, says it expects to begin hiring more workers in Sumter near the end of the year.

[Associated Press]

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