PERRY, OK — With shovels in hand, Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt and other state dignitaries recently helped celebrate the groundbreaking of a new 170,000-square-foot paint facility at the Ditch Witch factory in Perry, Oklahoma. The event was part of a stop from the Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) Express Tour of manufacturing companies across the country.

The new paint line facility is expected to bring up to 100 new jobs to the area and will help drive greater operational efficiencies and capacity to better serve customers. Celebrating 75 years in business, the expansion further reinforces the company’s commitment to Perry and the state of Oklahoma and positions the company to support future growth in the underground construction industry.

The groundbreaking event was kicked off by Kevin Smith, Vice President of Ditch Witch, with welcoming remarks to the nearly 1,000 attendees. He shared the impact of each and every one of the employees for their commitment, hard work, and dedication in helping power people’s lives.

“What we do matters. Within the first 30 minutes of your day, the work that we do makes a positive impact on people’s lives,” he said. “The first thing you do in the morning might be check your cell phone and look at the weather or social media. We helped bring that into your hands. Then you flip on the light switch. We helped deliver that power to your house.”

“This investment in the Perry facility will help expand our manufacturing capacity, reinforces our commitment to the many customers we serve around the world, and ultimately helps us continue to produce the world-class products Ditch Witch is known for well into the future,” Smith added.

Ditch Witch traces its roots back to 1902 when Carl Malzhan opened a blacksmith shop with his sons in Perry. Its first production trencher came off the assembly line in 1949, and since that time, Ditch Witch has been the largest employer in Perry and has become a global provider of underground construction equipment. Today, the company employs more than 1,700 people in the community. The new paint facility is scheduled to be completed in early 2027.

Ditch Witch designs, manufactures, and markets a complete line of directional drills, drill pipe, HDD tooling, Underground Awareness electronics, vacuum excavators, trenchers, surface miners, fluid recycling systems, chain, teeth and sprockets, stand-on skid steers, and vibratory plows. Handcrafted in the U.S., its products are supported by the Ditch Witch dealer network with over 175 locations worldwide.