Town of Liberty awarded $325,000 Grant for Toyota Tsusho America warehouse project

LIBERTY — Toyota’s investment in the Randolph Greensboro Megasite in Liberty is paying dividends again, this time putting to good use a large industrial structure in Liberty that had been standing unused for more than 20 years.

The news came Dec. 7 when the Town of Liberty was awarded a $325,000 NC Commerce Building Reuse Grant by the North Carolina Rural Infrastructure Authority.

The grant will assist with the renovation of the 85,314-square-foot building located at 7280 Liberty Park Avenue in Liberty. That long-vacant building will be put into productive use for the first time since its construction in 2001.

The new occupant will be Toyota Tsusho America, Inc. (TAI), which will use the facility as an offsite warehouse to support Toyota Battery Manufacturing North Carolina’s (TBMNC ) nearby production of hybrid electric vehicle batteries. 

The move will create 41 new jobs in the project building and bring in a total investment in the project, including the grant funding, of more than $7 million, counting building renovations, upfits, and machinery and equipment.

TAI anticipates Monday through Friday operations with two shifts, and for the warehouse space to be open by 2025 when TBMNC begins production. 

This project marks the first announced direct TBMNC supplier jobs coming to Randolph County, the Randolph County Economic Development Corporation said in a press release.

“Liberty was very excited with the recent education announcement from Toyota Tsusho and humbled with the generous donation given to Teach for America for the Eastern Randolph High School mentoring program,” Liberty Mayor Filmore York said. 

And now, “with the $7 million investment in upfits and equipment in the vacant warehouse facility and the commitment to create 41 new jobs in Liberty, we look forward to ongoing collaboration and partnership with this outstanding company,” he said.

TAI is a wholly owned subsidiary of Toyota Tsusho Corporation, founded as a trading and supply-chain specialist of the Toyota Group. Headquartered in New York City, TAI has been operating in North America since 1961.

It has evolved to a multi-business enterprise today that combines international trading of various industrial products including metals, machinery, chemicals and electronics, with an expansive range of domestically targeted functions including supply-chain services, logistics, intermediate goods processing and engineering solutions. TAI has regional offices, subsidiaries, and affiliates across North America in 78 locations and more than 8,000 employees, including four employees in its Greensboro office.

“The company has an outstanding track record in both business and community engagement as evidenced by their recently announced advocacy in bringing Teach for America to Eastern Randolph High School,” Randolph County EDC president Kevin Franklin. “TAI is a great addition to our corporate community, and we look forward to a productive partnership for many years to come.”