Kawasaki Engines celebrates grand reopening of Grand Rapids headquarters

On May 18, Kawasaki Engines, a division of Kawasaki Motors Corp., U.S.A., celebrated the grand reopening of its headquarters in grand style in Grand Rapids, Mich. The event was attended by nearly 160 people, including many of Kawasaki’s top executives and approximately a dozen dealers. It featured tours of the renovated office space and new research and development (R&D) center, a formal ribbon-cutting ceremony, and lunch with live music and a traditional Japanese Sake Toast.

Highlighting the 200,000-square-foot building’s new look is a new state-of-the-art R&D center, previously outsourced to Kawasaki Motors Manufacturing Corp., U.S.A., an engine production facility in Maryville, Mo. The combined R&D spaces within the renovated building keeps Kawasaki’s engineering staff in close proximity to the sales team, with the goal of ultimately providing increased responsiveness to Kawasaki customers and driving innovation of new product.

The new facility features an open design, allowing for greater inter-departmental collaboration and providing staff with modern, light-filled work and meeting spaces. The new offices and cubicles were designed so that anticipated future expansion can be accomplished with minimal disruption. The blending of light colors and wood with Kawasaki’s signature red logo color provides a contemporary feel to both work and public spaces.

Kawasaki currently markets more than 40 general-purpose engines, 98 percent of which are produced by Kawasaki Motors Manufacturing Corp., U.S.A. in its Maryville, Mo. facility which has turned out in excess of eight million units.

The Kawasaki Engines division distributes gasoline engines for landscape, industrial and consumer markets. It sells to and services customers through a network of more than 40 OEMs, 15 distributors, and more than 7,500 independent dealers throughout the United States, Canada, Australia, select countries in Central and South America, and the U.S. Trust Territories of the Pacific, including Guam.