Ritz Instrument Transformers to expand in Hart County, will create 50 New Jobs

ATLANTA—September 21, 2016 –The Georgia Department of Economic Development (GDEcD) today announced Ritz Instrument Transformers will expand their current operations in Hart County, investing $8 million and creating 50 new full-time jobs within the next five years.  The planned expansion represents a 50 percent increase of its current workforce.

'We are thrilled that Ritz Instrument Transformers has decided to grow their operations in Hart County,' said GDEcD Commissioner Chris Carr. 'Georgia's access to a highly-trained workforce and pro-business climate is the perfect complement to the company's commitment to driving innovation, creating quality products and providing full customer satisfaction. We look forward to supporting them in their future growth.'

Ritz Instrument Transformers is the world's largest manufacturer in the 600V through 72KV range. Customers include leading companies in the fields of energy supply and electronics from all corners of the world.

"The decision to re-enter the high voltage segment of our marketplace was in response to continued pressure to do so by the same electrical utilities that purchase our low and medium voltage instrument transformers,' said Dave Dearlove, CEO, Ritz USA. 'While the design and manufacturing technologies are very different from current products, necessitating the construction of a new factory and electrical testing laboratory, the products perform the same function as our current products, namely providing inputs into meters and relays. It was an easy decision to site the new facility adjacent to our existing factory in Hart County due to the tremendous support available at the county and state levels.'

Ritz was founded in Hamburg, Germany and now consists of seven facilities in Germany, Austria, Hungary, China and the U.S.  The current plant is located in Lavonia, Georgia and was opened in 2010, producing low-voltage and medium-voltage instrument transformers and cast parts for the utility and OEM sectors.

"The Hart County Board of Commissioners is pleased to see Ritz Instrument Transformers continuing to grow its business by introducing new product lines and increasing employment,' said Ricky Carter, Hart County Board of Commissioners Chairman. 'Ritz was one of Hart County's first German-based companies and the first industry to locate in our Gateway-2 Industrial Park. We are confident that they will continue to be an outstanding member of our business community.'

"The launch of Ritz New High Voltage Product Line is an exciting development and represents a significant, long-term commitment by Ritz in Hart County,' said Bill Leard, Chairman of Hart County Industrial Building Authority. 'This will have a positive impact on job opportunities for local area citizens throughout Northeast Georgia.'

GDEcD Existing Industry and Regional Recruitment Sr. Project Manager, Region 2, Tammy Caudell represented the Global Commerce division throughout the project in partnership with the Hart County Industrial Building Authority and the Hart County Board of Commissioners.

About the RITZ Group

Ritz was founded in 1945 by Dr. Hans Ritz with the goal of making the instrument transformer the most reliable part of the electrical power system. With the addition of the Hartwell facility, the RITZ Group consists of seven factories located in five countries around the world. RITZ is the world's largest manufacturer of instrument transformers in the 600 V through 72 kV range. Its many important clients include most large electrical utilities in the US and around the globe, engineering firms and turnkey contractors such as Siemens and ABB, and major switchgear manufacturers such as EATON. The company has been able to grow and prosper by focusing on maintaining a very high quality standard, product innovation and cost-effective lean manufacturing. In addition to instrument transformers, the group also manufactures cast coil power transformers, resin insulated bus bar systems and specialty resin products.

About GDEcD

The Georgia Department of Economic Development (GDEcD) is the state's sales and marketing arm, the lead agency for attracting new business investment, encouraging the expansion of existing industry and small businesses, aligning workforce education and training with in-demand jobs, locating new markets for Georgia products, attracting tourists to Georgia, and promoting the state as a destination for arts and location for film, music and digital entertainment projects, as well as planning and mobilizing state resources for economic development. Visit www.georgia.org for more information.