FN America is growing. The Virginia company’s manufacturing center has always been located in Columbia, South Carolina. Now, with the introduction of popular guns like the updated Five-seveN Mk3, the High Power, the new Reflex micro-compact and the under-$1000 Guardian AR-15, the company is going to need more manufacturing capacity. Toward that end . . .

FN America, LLC, the U.S. subsidiary of FN Herstal, S.A., a global firearms manufacturer, is pleased to announce plans to open a second production facility located in Pickens County, South Carolina, further expanding the company’s presence in the state. The company will invest $33 million into the construction of the more than 100,000-square-foot facility that will be constructed over two phases. In total, the expansion will add 176 new jobs to the company’s workforce and add new manufacturing capacity that will position the company to meet the increasing demand for FN products.

“FN has experienced significant growth over the last several years and demand for our products continues to increase in all market segments that we serve,” said Mark Cherpes, President and CEO for FN America, LLC. “Our new facility in Liberty, South Carolina will allow us to expand our manufacturing capabilities and grow our highly skilled workforce to meet that new demand. We are proud to partner with Pickens County and the state of South Carolina on this expansion.”

For more than 40 years, the company’s primary production facility has been located in Richland County, South Carolina and has produced more than 1 million small arms under contract to the U.S. Department of Defense. The company was originally established in the United States in 1979 and opened its doors in 1981 to produce the M240 medium machine gun, a variant of the FN MAG-58, under contract to the U.S. Army.

Currently, FN America employs more than 600 individuals to produce firearms, accessories and other adjacent products for the U.S. military, law enforcement agencies as well as consumers. The company has produced the M4A1, M16A4, M249 light machine gun, M240 medium machine gun and FN SCAR under contract for the U.S. military as well as it’s FN 509 striker-fired pistol line used by U.S. law enforcement agencies like the Los Angeles Police Department.

The company plans to break ground on its second facility in 2024 with an anticipated completion in 2025.