South Georgia Equipment (SGE) has opened a 200,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Lincolnton, Georgia. SGE managers say this puts the company in a position to handle any project of any size and also supply readily accessible American parts and service after the sale.
SGE provides a wide variety of produce handling equipment and supplies, including extraction systems, drying rooms and optical grading systems, to customers ranging from entry-level automation farmers to the largest farms throughout North and South America, according to company chief operating officer Tony Mimbs.
SGE owner Rob Hinnant established the company in 1999 and began importing produce handling equipment into the North American market. However, the crash of the global economy a few years earlier seemed to cause many of the company’s foreign partners to concentrate more on their own domestic customers, according to Hinnant. This led to delays in delivery of parts and equipment for SGE’s North American customers.
Mimbs said Hinnant also had a common practice of re-designing portions of the foreign equipment to meet the standards and needs of American farmers, but was not receiving any compensation for his intellectual property.
Wanting to change directions, Hinnant and Mimbs made the decision in early 2017 to convert to a full-fledged and all-American manufacturer/assembler for the same type of equipment, but with American design and quality added to the mix. They built their first five projects during 2018 at a 12,000-square-foot facility in Vidalia, Georgia, but it became clear they needed more space.
Hinnant and Mimbs say acquiring the 200,000-square-foot manufacturing facility will help SGE achieve its goal to continue providing American farmers with quality equipment for every phase of their operations.
