GEA is moving ahead with the expansion of its Janesville, Wisconsin, campus following approval of a development agreement with the City of Janesville. The Düsseldorf, Germany-based equipment supplier will add a building of about 70,000 square feet of office, manufacturing, research and industrial space, representing an investment of about $25 million in construction, machinery and equipment.
Construction is expected to begin in fall 2026. The facility is targeted for completion by the end of 2027 and is scheduled to become fully operational in early 2028.
The new building will house GEA's manufacturing, assembly and application teams together and will center on equipment from the company's Nutrition Plant Engineering portfolio, including drying technologies. The space will also be used for customer and internal training and application testing.
"Food and beverage producers in North America are looking for partners who can combine process expertise, practical testing and reliable project execution close to their markets," said Klaus Stojentin, CEO of GEA's Nutrition Plant Engineering Division and member of the GEA executive board. "Expanding our Janesville campus is a direct response to that. It builds real capability in a region that matters strategically to both our customers and to GEA."
Existing campus expansion
GEA plans to combine a 13.94-acre city-owned parcel with 16 acres it already owns, creating a campus of nearly 30 acres. The company also plans to invest about $2 million in measures aimed at reducing the site's environmental footprint.
The Janesville site already includes a production, repair, logistics and training facility for separators, decanters, valves and pumps, which opened in 2024. In 2025, GEA added its New Food Application and Technology Center, which offers pilot-scale testing for precision fermentation, cell cultivation and plant-based applications.
"Customers don't just want us nearby — they want to get something done while they're here," said Ana Rusu, vice president of Nutrition Plant Engineering, North America. "In Janesville, a customer can walk a process from a testing question to a production plan without switching teams or sites. That's the difference this expansion makes: less handoff, more progress in a single visit."
The City of Janesville's performance-based jobs incentive is linked to the creation of 52 full-time equivalent positions. According to city representatives, GEA will have invested about $75 million in Janesville since its first tax increment financing agreement with the city in 2022.
