Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health USA Inc., a leading animal health company, will create 225 jobs and invest more than $120 million in Georgia, according to a recent announcement from Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp. The company has located its North American headquarters in Duluth, Ga., creating 75 new jobs; it also is adding more than 100 new jobs at its manufacturing and research and development facility in Athens, Ga., and more than 50 jobs at the Gainesville, Ga., manufacturing facility.

“We’re excited to welcome Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health USA Inc. to the Peach State,” Kemp said. “As a family-owned business, they will join a first-class corporate family here in Georgia. I look forward to working with them to strengthen our university system and existing industries in agribusiness, health technology and science.”

With global headquarters in Ingelheim, Germany, Boehringer Ingelheim operates globally with 145 affiliates and around 47,500 employees. The focus of the family-owned company, founded in 1885, is researching, developing, manufacturing and marketing new medications of high therapeutic value for human and veterinary medicine.

“For nearly 40 years, the company and its predecessors have helped make the state of Georgia a key player in animal health -- from its beginning producing rabies vaccines in Athens to multiple facilities today that are playing an instrumental role in advancing animal health and well-being,” Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health USA Inc. president Everett Hoekstra said. “Our investments will expand our capabilities and presence in Georgia and drive future growth and innovation to help prevent disease in livestock and pets.”

Georgia Department of Economic Development commissioner Pat Wilson said, “It’s a great day in Georgia when we can announce that a project will spur job creation in three counties. Boehringer Ingelheim’s new U.S. animal health headquarters and dual expansions are a testament to our colleges and universities as well the resources surrounding agribusiness and veterinary sciences in Georgia. I would like to congratulate our partners in Athens-Clarke, Hall and Gwinnett counties for their hard work and commitment to making Georgia a place where companies want to live, work and play.”