Toro invests $25m in R&D facilities

Toro, the turfcare and landscaping equipment manufacturer, has started work on a US$25 million expansion of its headquarters in Bloomington, Minnesota, US.

The 75000 ft2 extension will expand the company’s product development and test facilities, and is scheduled to be completed next summer. The Bloomington site was opened as a research and development site in 1952 and became the company’s headquarters in 1962.

“We are investing in our Bloomington facility to enable our businesses to continue to meet the needs of our customers,” said Michael Hoffman, Toro’s chairman and chief executive officer.

“With the anticipated growth of our businesses, through ongoing product development and the addition of recent acquisitions taking us into new markets, this investment will help to expand our technical capacity and further the innovation our customers expect.”

Toro, which celebrates its 100^th birthday next year, has grown in recent years, in part through the acquisition of the Stone Construction business, which added construction and compaction machines to its turfcare and landscaping products. The business reported sales of more than $1.9 billion in fiscal 2012.