BMW Manufacturing Announces Construction of New Training Center.

• Groundbreaking Held During Internal Ceremony with SC Secretary of Commerce Bobby Hitt.
• New 67,000 Square Foot Building Will Open in Summer of 2022.

Spartanburg, S.C. (February 22, 2021)… Officials of BMW Manufacturing, along with South Carolina Secretary of Commerce Bobby Hitt, broke ground today for a new $20 million, 67,000 square-foot training center on the BMW campus.  The investment is a continuation of BMW’s 2017 commitment to invest $200 million over five years into workforce training. When completed in the summer of 2022, the building will feature multiple classrooms for both professional development and technical training, an outdoor amphitheater, and a unique concept of outdoor meeting and workspace that includes wireless capabilities. 

“The most important investment for BMW is our people. Our associates are the key to BMW’s success,” said Knudt Flor, president and CEO of BMW Manufacturing. “The rapid pace of digitalization, electrification, artificial intelligence, and autonomous driving is transforming the automotive industry. Advancing the skills of our workforce is a priority for BMW. This training center will offer a learning environment that promotes creativity, fosters innovation, and improves technical training skills.”

“We applaud BMW for their continued investment in our state’s biggest asset – our workforce,” said South Carolina Secretary of Commerce Bobby Hitt. “Since 1992, BMW has shown their steadfast commitment to not only South Carolina, but to our people as well. This new training center will ensure BMW technicians are highly trained and skilled in the latest automotive technologies and are prepared for the jobs of today and tomorrow.”

The new training center will be built across from the existing Campus Training Center (CTC). The idea is to connect recruiting, hiring, training and innovation all in one location.

“Our recruiting and training concept is very stimulating and interesting,” said Christine Petrasch, vice president of Human Resources for BMW Manufacturing. “We want to create a ‘college campus’ atmosphere around the new building with pathways and meeting places. As newly hired associates walk out of the CTC, they see the new training center in front of them and behind that, they see the BMW plant where they will work. It will be very inspiring.”

The training center will also be home to BMW’s well-known apprenticeship program – BMW Scholars. 

“The technical training areas will have a flexible classroom design to adapt to multiple learning environments,” said Paul Sinanian, manager for Talent Management and Training. “Training robots identical to those inside the BMW plant will be placed on moveable pallets so they can be relocated depending on the learning situation. Classrooms will be equipped with the utilities and IT networking needed for teaching robotics, electrical, mechanical, engine and automotive training.”

The new training center will replace the current BMW Training and Development Center (TDC) on Brockman-McClimon Road, which has been in operation for more than 27 years. The TDC started as temporary office space for the first BMW associates in 1993.  The following year, the first production associates used the building to assemble BMW 3 Series vehicles for training. For more than two decades, the TDC has been used for both technical and professional training.

BMW Manufacturing currently produces about 1,500 vehicles each day, exporting more than two-thirds of its models to 125 global markets. The model portfolio includes five top-selling BMW X models, four Motorsport X models and two plug-in hybrid electric X models. The factory has a production capacity of up to 450,000 vehicles and employs more than 11,000 people.

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BMW Manufacturing Co., LLC

BMW Manufacturing Co., LLC is a subsidiary of BMW AG in Munich, Germany, and is the global producer of the BMW X3, X3 M, X5, X5 M and X7 Sports Activity Vehicles and X4, X4 M, X6 and X6 M Sports Activity Coupes.  In addition to the South Carolina manufacturing facility, BMW Group North American subsidiaries include sales, marketing and financial services operations in the United States, Canada and throughout Latin America; a BMW manufacturing plant in San Luis Potosi, Mexico; and a design firm and technology office in California. For more information on BMW Manufacturing, visit www.bmwusfactory.com.

BMW Group in America

BMW of North America, LLC has been present in the United States since 1975.  Rolls-Royce Motor Cars NA, LLC began distributing vehicles in 2003.  The BMW Group in the United States has grown to include marketing, sales, and financial service organizations for the BMW brand of motor vehicles, including motorcycles, the MINI brand, and Rolls-Royce Motor Cars; Designworks, a strategic design consultancy based in California; technology offices in Silicon Valley and Chicago, and various other operations throughout the country.  BMW Manufacturing Co., LLC in South Carolina is the BMW Group global center of competence for BMW X models and manufactures the X3, X4, X5, X6 and X7 Sports Activity Vehicles. The BMW Group sales organization is represented in the U.S. through networks of 349 BMW passenger car and BMW Sports Activity Vehicle centers, 143 BMW motorcycle retailers, 116 MINI passenger car dealers, and 38 Rolls-Royce Motor Car dealers.  BMW (US) Holding Corp., the BMW Group’s sales headquarters for North America, is located in Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey.

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If you have any questions, please contact Corporate Communications:

Sky Foster, Department Manager, Corporate Communications, BMW Manufacturing Co.

Telephone: +1 864-802-5546, sky.foster@bmwmc.com

Steve Wilson, Media Communications Specialist, Corporate Communications,
BMW Manufacturing Co.

Telephone: +1 864-802-5346, steve.wilson@bmwmc.com