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By mid-year, one of Alabama's largest automotive suppliers will be adding hundreds of new jobs at an expanded facility. Cullman's Rehau manufacturing plant already has more 500 employees.
The expansion at Rehau comes as a result of a new contract with Mercedes-Benz.
Rehau will produce bumper assemblies for the Mercedes Benz C-class and M-class vehicles.
Governor Robert Bentley, Cullman County Mayor Max Townson and heads of both Mercedes and Rehau say the expansion is a result of a friendly-business environment and hard-working Alabamians.
"Our workers work hard and take pride in the products they produce and those are the people I am proudest of," Bentley says.
"We've been receiving very good support from the city and the community of Cullman and we feel very much at home here," Niklas Braun, CEO of Rehau Automotive, says.
As for the new bumper assemblies, Braun says, they will be included on the 2015 Mercedes Benz models.
"That means income for the residents, jobs, and quality of life...This expansion is as good as any new industry that you could possibly get, a 110 million-dollar expansion, some communities don't even get that in new investment. So, this is big," says Max Townson, mayor of Cullman.
