Briggs & Stratton begins operations in new Sherrill manufacturing facility

SHERRILL — Briggs & Stratton Corporation (NYSE: BGG) has a new facility in the Sherrill Industrial Park.

Milwaukee, Wisconsin–based Briggs & Stratton on Sept. 18 formally opened its $10 million, 552,000-square-foot commercial-products manufacturing facility in Sherrill. 

The firm is the “world’s largest” producer of gasoline engines for outdoor power equipment, and a designer, manufacturer and marketer of power generation, pressure washer, lawn and garden, turf care and job-site products, per the company’s LinkedIn profile.

With the company’s commercial-market growth, Briggs & Stratton needed a larger facility for production of its Ferris and Snapper Pro brand mowers, originally manufactured in Munnsville in Madison County. 

Its new facility in the Sherrill Industrial Park will “accommodate this continued growth into the future” and will nearly double the production capacity for Ferris, Snapper, Snapper Pro, Simplicity, and some Billy Goat products, the office of Gov. Andrew Cuomo said in a news release.

State incentives

Briggs & Stratton had been considering its options for expanding its commercial-manufacturing footprint within the U.S., and “chose to grow in the Mohawk Valley,” Cuomo’s office said. 

To assist with job creation and retention, Empire State Development (ESD) offered the company up to $1 million in tax credits through the Excelsior Jobs Program for the project and a $1.5 million capital grant to equip the new facility — in exchange for retaining 500 existing jobs and a commitment of adding 52 new jobs over 10 years.

Briggs & Stratton has already surpassed its job targets, hiring 100 new employees who will produce its commercial products. 

Additionally, construction of the $10 million building was supported by a $1.9 million ESD capital grant to ONX3, the developer of Sherrill Industrial Park, for construction and renovation costs. 

“Ferris Industries joined the Briggs & Stratton family in 2004 and since then has grown exponentially — as has the company’s commercial business in total,” Todd Teske, chairman, president and CEO of Briggs & Stratton, said in Cuomo’s release. “This new facility in Sherrill will allow for that growth to continue long into the future, and we’re so grateful for the support we’ve received from the State of New York, Oneida County and the City of Sherrill throughout the process.”