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Made in Trenton: Gill Industries

3,200 views · Published 10 September 2012 · 3:07 · Indexed 6 November 2026

Channel: WTVC NewsChannel 9 · 2012 · News & Politics

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One north Georgia factory is leading the charge to bring American jobs back to America, and apparently -- it's working..Gill Industries in Dade County, or Gill-Trenton as they call it, has been in business for 17 years.  The 150 employees there, are diversified enough to be 50 percent into automotive parts and 50 percent, into seat mechanisms for office and home furniture. Whether it's in South Africa, Europe, or the Far East, many companies use Gill Industry parts that are MADE IN TRENTON..Among other items, Gill Industries makes parts for one of the nation's largest distributor of off-road sport vehicles, golf carts, and 4-wheelers."Our products are made to last," says Manufacturing Manager Mark Kelly.  "Very seldom do we have any major issues."No golf cart can operate without this.. It's a front-end suspension, made exclusively at Gill Industries.  It starts with a metal base, stamped in another part of the plant.  The swing arm is installed first, to hold the shock absorbers in place.The springs are also mounted.. They resemble the springs you'd see in a car.  "The gas is checked inside the shock, since that is a purchased item for us," says Kelly.While this is going on, brakes are being assembled.  Everything goes in, and the grease is pumped in.  The brake assembly is then installed onto the front end frame.  The shocks are then torqued, getting them to be able to add stability to the front end.  The steering mechanism comes pre-assembled and is put on.  At that point, the unit is finished.Kelly has high praise for his crew.  So, how good are they? At one point, they're supposed to have 26 done, but they've done 44.  "They're 17 pieces ahead of schedule," Kelly shows us on an overhead monitor.  "17 assemblies ahead of schedule."  Each one gets a serial number, then they're packed and shipped off to the golf cart manufacturer.  "They'll be picked up this evening, and be in the company's facility that's purchased it from us, ready for production at 6 o'clock tomorrow morning.""Two weeks after we run it, it could be anywhere in the world."It's easy to see on the front end of the golf cart where the assembly goes.  It's right behind the front plate.  Kelly says, work like this used to be done overseas, but now it's back in America, where it belongs.  "We're actually taking business over that is being produced in Europe, and we're bringing it stateside and running it here."Mr. Kelly says one of the things that he has begun seeing, is a shift by companies to deal more with American products made at factories like his, instead of factories in other countries..He says, quality of the product and the pride of it being made in the U-S-A, are, at the core of that shift in thinking..

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