North Bryan firearms maker Daniel Defense held a ribbon-cutting ceremony last week to celebrate the opening of a new manufacturing facility at its Black Creek headquarters.

The event drew about 250 people, including Gov. Nathan Deal.

“I’ve had the pleasure of knowing Marty and Cindy Daniel for quite some time now,” Deal said. “And theirs is a family indicative of so many of Georgia’s values: hard work, perseverance in the face of difficulties, generous and strong in character.”

Construction on the 300,000-square-foot, $29.5-million expansion was announced in 2016 via an agreement with the Development Authority of Bryan County. The company at the time said it wanted to centralize its workforce and operations, which had been split between Black Creek and Ridgeland, S.C.

“We have enjoyed watching Daniel Defense grow since they originally located in Bryan County in 2009,” said Noah Covington, chairman of the DABC. “We are honored that they chose to consolidate all of their operations into a new, state-of-the-art facility here. The quality jobs that are created and the capital investment that is made through projects such as this reverberate throughout the entire community.”