Portuguese electrical transformer manufacturer EFACEC Group broke ground Sept. 25 on a plant in Effingham County that will eventually create almost 700 jobs near the city of Rincon, news reports said.

EFACEC USA, the Porto, Portugal-based company’s first U.S. subsidiary, will invest a total of $170 million, which includes a 470,000-square-foot production facility, the Savannah Morning News reported.

State employee training program Georgia Quick Start’s Web site said EFACEC will produce transformers for major American utility companies including Georgia Power and Florida Power.

The company signed a memorandum of understanding with state officials last November, solidifying its plan to build the plant on a 55-acre tract in the Effingham Industrial Park.

“This investment is a landmark for EFACEC and an essential step in our growth strategy in the key United States market,” EFACEC Group CEO Luís Filipe Pereira said in a statement at the time.

Mr. Pereira was on hand for the groundbreaking, where local and state economic development officials commended EFACEC for its commitment to Georgia, the Savannah newspaper said.

Gov. Sonny Perdue will thank EFACEC when he meets with company officials in Lisbon, the Portuguese capital, on his current Europe mission.  He left Sept. 27 for a weeklong economic development trip that will take him to Italy, Portugal and Spain.

EFACEC will work with Quick Start and Savannah Technical College’s Effingham campus to create training materials for the first wave of 300 employees, according to Quick Start’s Web site.

Click here to view a video of how the site will look when it is completed in 2010.  Construction is slated to begin in early 2009.