Caterpillar has chosen a site near Athens, Ga. for a new manufacturing plant that is expected to employ 1,400 people.

The heavy equipment-maker had also been considering a site just west of Wilmington.

Georgia's governor, Nathan Deal, made the announcement this morning. Caterpillar will invest $200 million in Clark and Oconee counties, the governor's office said.

This marks the second time in less than a year that a company has passed on building in an area along the border between Brunswick and Columbus counties.

Continental Tire last year considered building a $500 million facility that would have brought as many as 1,500 jobs to the area. The company ended up choosing a site in South Carolina.

Caterpillar announced today that it plans to invest $33 million in its manufacturing facilities in Johnston County and create 199 jobs over the next five years.

The project will expand the operations that are now home to Caterpillar's Building Construction Products Division. The expansion will make the Clayton facility the world source for several models of small wheel loaders produced by Caterpillar. 

Engineering and design work for BCP products will also take place at a new engineering and test facility near the Clayton manufacturing facility.  
 

Caterpillar continues to see stronger demand for its construction equipment as the global economic recovery gains steam.

That's fueling more hiring, including at Caterpillar's factories in North Carolina. The company announced new expansions last year in Winston-Salem and Sanford, and Caterpillar also is adding jobs at its Clayton facility.

The Peoria, Ill.-based company reported this morning that its first quarter profit rose more than five-fold to a record $1.23 billion.

The company also boosted its 2011 outlook, and its stock surged, helping fuel a Wall Street rally.

Caterpillar reported stronger fourth-quarter profit and sales, as global economic recovery helps the world's largest maker of mining and construction equipment gain ground.

The results beat Wall Street expectations and Caterpillar officials predict that 2011 also will exceed analysts' projections.

The company's shares, up nearly 80 percent in the past year, rose 53 cents to $96.29 in morning trading.

With its improving fortunes, Caterpillar also is expanding production and hiring more workers. The Illinois company cut thousands of employees worldwide during the recession, including hundreds in the Triangle.

But last year Caterpillar announced plans to build a new factory in Winston-Salem and expand its Sanford operations. The company already employs more than 1,000 workers in North Carolina, mostly at operations in Clayton, Cary and Sanford, and plans to add hundreds more.

Former Caterpillar CEO Jim Owens continues to expand his Wall Street connections in retirement.

Famed private-equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts today named Owens as a senior advisor.

"We will benefit greatly from both his depth of experience in the industrial sector and his recognized leadership on global economic issues as we pursue new investments and support our existing portfolio companies,"  KKR co-founders Henry Kravis and George Roberts said in a prepared statement.

Since retiring from Caterpillar last year, Owens also joined the board of investment bank Morgan Stanley. And he continues his work on the boards of IBM and Alcoa, and as an N.C. State trustee.

Caterpillar isn't spending its money just to expand in North Carolina.

The world's largest maker of construction and mining equipment also is using its cash to buy other companies. Caterpillar announced this morning it will acquire Bucyrus International for $7.6 billion.

Bucyrus is a Wisconsin-based maker of mining equipment, and will help Caterpillar's new CEO Doug Oberhelman extend the company's control of that market.

Jim Owens, who's stepping down as Caterpillar's top executive on Nov. 1, will spend some of his retirement years overseeing one of Wall Street's most powerful investment banks.

Owens, 64, will join the board of Morgan Stanley on Jan. 1, the New York company announced today.

A native of Elizabeth City, Owens earned a doctorate in economics from N.C. State in 1973 and is on the university's board of trustees.

Jim Owens' legacy at Caterpillar will live on.

The company plans to name a new leadership center in Edwards, Ill., after Owens, who retired as CEO on July 1 and will step down as chairman on Nov. 1.

Owens is a native of Elizabeth City who has strong ties to N.C. State. He earned a doctorate in economics from N.C. State in 1973 and is on the university's board of trustees.

He joined in Caterpillar in 1972 as a corporate economist and became CEO in 2004.

On the heels of winning a major Caterpillar factory, Winston-Salem leaders are offering another round of incentives to lure an expansion by Pepsi Beverages at its Triad call center.

Pepsi is considering creating 195 jobs over five years as it renovates and expands its call center that serves retailers and vendors, the Winston-Salem Journal reports. Forsyth County commissioners have scheduled a hearing on Sept. 13 to discuss offering $64,000 to $150,000 in incentives. The city of Winston-Salem is expected to kick in the rest of a combined $400,000 offer.

The state would match that amount with a $400,000 grant from the One North Carolina Fund, the newspaper reported.

The Sanford and Winston-Salem expansions that Caterpillar announced in the past month are part of a plan to "play offense and win" as the economy recovers, the company's top executive told Wall Street analysts.

CEO Doug Oberhelman told analysts during a presentation at the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday that he doesn't expect a double-dip recession, and that growth in developing countries will fuel further recovery.

“We don't think the world has ended,” said Oberhelman, who has been with Caterpillar since 1975 and became CEO in July. “We think there is going to be fantastic growth in our industry in the future.”