Kobelco Compressors America, Inc. opens new compressor plant in California, USA

Kobelco Compressors America, Inc. (KCA), a subsidiary of Kobe Steel, Ltd. celebrated the grand opening of their state-of-the-art $20 million corporate headquarters and factory complex on April 14, 2011. Gray-I.C.E. Builders provided programming, master planning, schematic design, construction and commissioning of the facility. The new complex will serve to double KCA’s manufacturing capacity of compressor systems and consolidate engineering, administration and manufacturing functions.

Approximately 150 guests, including Corona Mayor Stan Skipworth, attended the grand opening. From Kobe Steel, Executive Vice President Kazuo Shigekawa participated in the event. The business began in 1990 and Kobe Steel first took an equity position in 2003. KCA employs about 200 people, and the president is Tetsuya Kakiuchi. Sales in 2010 reached $51 million.

Kobe Steel manufactured Japan’s first reciprocating compressor in 1915. With a history going back nearly 100 years, Kobe Steel is regarded as Japan’s leading comprehensive manufacturer of compressors. KCA’s new facility will enable Kobe Steel to accelerate its global growth and build a strong base for its compressor business, as it focuses on becoming a top-class, comprehensive manufacturer of compressors in the world.

KCA selected Gray-I.C.E. Builders to design and build their corporate headquarters and production complex based on Gray-I.C.E. Builders’ demonstrated expertise with similar type facilities in the Western U.S. and their unparalleled project history working with Japanese companies in the United States.  If you have industrial facility or corporate office design and construction needs in the western U.S., please contact Bob Moore, President of Gray-I.C.E. Builders at ramoore@gray-iceb.com. You can also find us at www.gray-iceb.com or www.gray.com to learn more about what value we can bring to you.