Dignitaries gathered Friday afternoon in Salina, some from as far away as Japan, to celebrate a $30 million project at Great Plains Manufacturing’s CE Facility, which will culminate with a 57,000 square-foot Kubota construction equipment test center.

The investment reinforces Kubota’s long-term commitment to designing, engineering, and validating compact construction equipment in North America for customers across the region.

Great Plains Manufacturing President and CEO David Disberger said the project is a milestone for both Great Plains, and Kubota. It marks more than a new facility, it represents a continued investment of innovation, collaboration, and a shared future.

Kubota’s Construction Equipment Research and Development North America (CERDNA) operation was established in 2021 in Salina to bring engineering, testing and validation activities closer to customers, ensuring equipment is engineered specifically to meet North American jobsite demands. This additional investment by Kubota North America represents the next phase in their growing construction equipment business.

The building design will be executed by Great Plains Manufacturing, a Kubota subsidiary. It will enable rigorous performance, durability, and reliability testing under controlled, repeatable conditions that replicate real-world construction applications. This enables Kubota construction equipment to meet the performance, durability and uptime expectations of professional operators and fleet customers across North America.