Zollner, a leader in electronic manufacturing services, will double its operations in the country.

Zapote, December 14, 2023 – Zollner Electronik AG, a global leader in electronic manufacturing services, announced today its new expansion in Costa Rica. It will invest $100 million and hire an additional 400 people.

Zollner Electronik AG, a company of German origin, has chosen to grow in Costa Rica after evaluating other options and the conditions offered by the country for building a second manufacturing plant with a construction area of over 8,000 square meters and, potentially, a third manufacturing area of over 9,000 square meters by 2027.

The new phase of construction is scheduled to begin in the first quarter of 2024 in Zona Franca La Lima, and it is expected to be fully operational by 2025. Led by board member Markus Aschenbrenner and one of the three sons of the founder, Ludwig Zollner, senior executives of Zollner visited the Presidential House today accompanied by the Minister of Foreign Trade, Manuel Tovar, to detail the growth plans and their positive impact on the country.

The President of the Republic, Rodrigo Chaves Robles, expressed great satisfaction with the implications of the expansion and reinvestment of this European leader in electronic manufacturing.

“Quality attracts quality. This company is a global leader in the production of high-value-added items. What country does not want to receive direct foreign investment to generate well-paid jobs for its citizens? We want to do it, and we are doing it,” stressed President Chaves Robles.

“Costa Rica is the ideal place for Zollner to continue growing in Latin America. Since its foundation in 2015, we have found the support and necessary conditions to reinvest (qualified available personnel, partnerships with technical schools in Cartago such as COVAO, CUC, and of course the support of the Technological Institute of Costa Rica (TEC), build a new plant, double our operations, and ideally triple the exports we produce and ship from the country. This will result in the creation of 400 new jobs in the Cartago area, as well as the strengthening of productive linkages with more than the 45 local suppliers we have,” assured the General Manager of Zollner in Costa Rica, Octavio Matus.

Zollner is the only Electronic Manufacturing Service (EMS) in the country and, as such, also contributes to making Costa Rica more attractive for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). Zollner is also a company focused on operational excellence and certified as a great place to work, as well as developing the technical skills of its talent – both professional and personal.

The Minister of Foreign Trade emphasized the impact this type of investment has on the area in which it is developed. “These are hundreds of formal and well-qualified jobs that generate training for that human talent, new business opportunities, productive linkages with suppliers, and sustainable development to the community in which they will be. We have offered our full support to Zollner so they can continue to grow; they are a company with much vision and prestige that has once again set its sights and trust on Costa Rica.”

Zollner Electronik is an EMS that manufactures high-value-added electronic products for the automotive, aerospace, medical, and consumer electronics industries in the United States, Mexico, and Costa Rica. As part of this expansion, the company has already begun implementing a shared services center for Global Engineering, Marketing and Sales, and Supply Chain. According to the company’s own figures, its exports from the national territory reach 100 million euros annually.

“We celebrate the reinvestment of a high-value-added company with sophisticated processes such as Zollner Electronik. This second manufacturing plant in Costa Rica not only means more employment for Costa Ricans but also contributes to the diversification of the country’s export matrix, generates knowledge transfer through the linkages, and as a leading company in the electronic manufacturing services sector, contributes to the development of the semiconductor ecosystem that we are working on from COMEX and PROCOMER,” added PROCOMER’s general manager, Laura López.

The profile of professionals that the company will recruit includes technicians in electronics, engineers in mechatronics, industrial production, among others. It also has a shared services operation for marketing and sales.

Next January, Zollner will celebrate its tenth anniversary of operations in the country; this expansion is part of the key to its growth strategy for the next 6 years.

About Zollner:
Headquartered in Zandt, Germany, Zollner Electronik AG was founded by Manfred Zollner in 1965. Since then, its successful growth has made it one of the leading EMS (Electronic Manufacturing Services) providers in the world. Continuously investing in its own growth, the Zollner group has evolved into a mechatronics service provider. As a partner to leading global companies as well as small and medium-sized enterprises, Zollner offers an impressive range of services: from development to production, all the way to after-sales service, solutions for cross-sectoral systems that provide support to customer needs throughout the product life cycle. They have over 10,000 employees around the world.