Following approval of a development agreement with the City of Janesville, GEA is moving ahead with the expansion of its Janesville campus in Wisconsin, strengthening local production and technology capabilities for food, beverage and nutrition customers in North America. The new building will add around 70,000 square feet of office, manufacturing, research and industrial space, representing an investment of about USD 25 million in construction, machinery and equipment. The facility is scheduled to become fully operational in early 2028.

The new space brings GEA’s manufacturing, assembly and application teams closer together at Janesville. For customers, which means direct access to GEA experts on site, shorter turnaround between a test result and a production decision, and less time lost moving a process from the lab to the plant floor.

The new infrastructure will focus on solutions from GEA’s Nutrition Plant Engineering portfolio, with drying technologies among the core capabilities. It will also support customer and internal training as well as application-related testing activities.

“Food and beverage producers in North America are looking for partners who can combine process expertise, practical testing and reliable project execution close to their markets,” said Klaus Stojentin, CEO of GEA’s Nutrition Plant Engineering Division and member of the GEA Executive Board. “Expanding our Janesville campus is a direct response to that. It builds real capability in a region that matters strategically to both our customers and to GEA.”

GEA’s Janesville campus already combines several operational and technology functions. In 2024, GEA opened a production, repair, logistics and training facility at the site for equipment such as separators, decanters, valves and pumps. In 2025, GEA added its New Food Application & Technology Center, giving food producers access to pilot-scale testing for precision fermentation, cell cultivation and plant-based applications. The planned expansion builds on this foundation.

“Customers don’t just want us nearby — they want to get something done while they’re here,” said Ana Rusu, vice president nutrition plant engineering, North America. “In Janesville, a customer can walk a process from a testing question to a production plan without switching teams or sites. That’s the difference this expansion makes: less handoff, more progress in a single visit.”

By continuing to invest in Janesville, GEA is advancing its strategy of strengthening localized production and technology capabilities in key markets. The project supports the company’s long-term commitment to the U.S. food and beverage industry and to customers across the Americas.

The expansion will also contribute to the local economy in Janesville. The City of Janesville’s development agreement references 52 living-wage-equivalent positions as part of the project framework. City representatives say that, with this expansion, GEA will have invested around USD 75 million in Janesville since the first Tax Increment Financing agreement in 2022.