The Story

Ariens Company is a privately-owned and operated outdoor power equipment manufacturer for both consumer and commercial markets. Today, Ariens manufactures and markets a diverse group of outdoor equipment brands. Headquartered in Brillion, Wisconsin, it is owned and operated by its founding family. This $65.5M project will help revitalize a vacant, outdated building into a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Fayetteville, TN. The Company’s expansion to Tennessee is in direct response to a sharp increase in demand, which has outpaced Ariens’ current production capacity. The 571,000 sq. ft. facility will serve as a hub for Ariens’ Gravely brand of commercial outdoor power equipment and position the Company to be geographically closer to its customers, dealer partners, and material suppliers in the southeast, generating positive catalytic impacts in Fayetteville and the surrounding communities.

The Financing

• Total project cost: $65,400,000
• MuniStrategies Allocation: $13,500,000 ($33.5M from other CDEs)

The Impacts

• Economic – The Project is located in a non-metro census tract in Tennessee (a NMTC-underserved state) that has a poverty rate of 26.4% and an unemployment rate of 12.5% (1.51x the national average).
• Jobs – The project will create 369 permanent new jobs, 351 of which (95%) will be accessible jobs with an average wage that is approximately 37% higher than the living wage for Lincoln County. All positions will earn above the living wage, and all will be eligible to receive benefits, including paid vacation, ten holidays, leave programs; medical, dental, and vision insurance; short-term and long-term disability; life insurance; paid maternity/paternity leave; childcare; 401(k) match and profit-sharing plans; bonus programs; accident and critical illness insurance; and flexible spending account plans. The project will also create approximately 70 construction jobs.
• Community – The project supports the broader mission of the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development to facilitate economic expansion and bring high-quality jobs to the State of Tennessee. Additionally, Ariens’ investment in Fayetteville will also contribute directly to the South Central Tennessee Development District’s Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy. Ariens also plans to incorporate several environmentally sustainable elements in order to reduce energy consumption such as upgrading all of the lighting to LED lights and replacing/upgrading the buildings HVAC systems. The project will receive a $3M TNECD for Building Improvements grant from the state of TN.
• Workforce Development – Ariens offers many workforce development programs, including a Registered Apprenticeship Program, a Youth Apprenticeship Program, an Internship Program, a Tuition Reimbursement and Assistance Program, Advanced/Continuing Education Programs, Internal Internship Opportunities, and Ariens Academy, a program that offers a variety of educational opportunities for employees to help them develop personally and professionally.