Last Friday, Beretta USA held its official ribbon cutting ceremony for its new state-of-the-art manufacturing and R&D facility in Gallatin. Gov. Haslam and Commissioner Boyd attended the ceremony along with Sen. Bob Corker, Congressman Diane Black, local officials and Beretta leadership.
Beretta, a global manufacturer of high-quality sporting and military firearms, announced in 2014 its plans to invest $45 million in the manufacturing facility and create 300 new Tennessee jobs. The new 156,000 square foot facility, located on 100 acres, will produce eight different firearms- six handguns, one shotgun and one sporting rifle. Once fully operational, the Gallatin facility is expected to produce 500,000 firearms annually. Beretta will also have an outdoor shooting range on site.
During the ceremony, Franco Gussalli Beretta, executive vice president of Beretta USA, presented Gov. Haslam with the first Beretta shotgun produced in Tennessee. Following the ceremony, attendees were given a tour where they got an inside look at how Beretta firearms are manufactured.
Beretta is the world’s oldest manufacturing dynasty, operating since 1526 in Italy. The company is privately owned and operated by members of the 15th and 16th generations of the Beretta family. Beretta supplies quality sporting and self-defense firearms to consumers worldwide. The company manufactures the U.S. Armed Forces M-9 pistol, the standard sidearm of U.S. soldiers since 1985.
“This is an important day for Beretta USA,” said Franco Gussalli Beretta, executive vice president of Beretta USA Corp. “Our decision to invest and grow brought us to Tennessee and Gallatin. Our new Gallatin facility is an important part of our growth not only in the United States, but for our markets throughout the world.”
