COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMOX) — The firearm brand Smith & Wesson will consolidate all of its operations from Springfield, Mass. and other parts of the country to a 633,000 square-foot warehouse outside of Columbia, Missouri later this year.
Parent company American Outdoor Brands Corp. stated in its most recent quarterly report that the new $75-million facility will be a centralized location for logistics, warehousing and distribution for all of its products including knives, tools and other outdoor equipment.
Twenty to 30 jobs at the Massachusetts location will be moved to the new Missouri warehouse, Elizabeth A. Sharp, an AOBC executive, told the Boston Business Journal. In addition to those jobs, 154 employees will be hired.
According to AOBC, the move will aid “facilitating our growth, enhancing our efficiencies, and allowing us to better serve customers across our entire organization.”
In March 2017, then Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens announced the move by Smith and Wesson was in the works. Missouri beat several other states in the process to attract gun makers.