Valtra’s factory moved from Jyväskylä to Suolahti in 1969. According to retired HR Director Aimo Puustinen, the move was quite a task, since the entire plant had to be transferred to the new location. Most personnel moved with the factory, but a many new employees were also recruited locally in and around Suolahti.
Initially, only the assembly plant moved from Jyväskylä to Suolahti. The transmission plant followed soon after, then service and spare parts, and eventually also marketing and engineering in the mid-2000s. For more than ten years now, all Finnish operations have been based in Suolahti.
The decision to move the factory from the growing centre of Jyväskylä to the countryside some 50 kilometres to the north was quite radical. The move was not easy, but ultimately the decision proved to be the right one.