COLUMBUS, IN—Toyota Material Handling will break ground later this month on a nearly $100 million expansion of its assembly plant here.

The project involves the construction of a 295,000-square-foot manufacturing facility that will be dedicated to the production of electric forklifts. The investment will create 85 new jobs.

“We are excited about this significant strategic expansion to our Columbus campus,” says Tony Miller, senior vice president of operations, engineering and strategic planning at Toyota Material Handling. “Electric products are more popular than ever, and we are committed to doing whatever it takes to keep up with the increase in demand. This new factory will allow us to deliver those electric units to customers much more quickly.”

Toyota Material Handling manufactures a variety of industrial equipment, including electric forklifts, gas-powered forklifts, electric terminal tractors, pallet jacks and stackers, and container handlers.

The company has been located in Columbus since 1990, and the expansion will represent a total of $400 million invested in the campus since that time.

The Indiana Economic Development Corp. is offering up to $1.1 million in conditional tax credits and up to $200,000 in training grants. The city of Columbus has also approved real and personal property tax abatement requests that will save Toyota $4.4 million over a 10-year period.