A Japanese firm that makes machines used by robots in automotive manufacturing is locating its second U.S. operation in Bowling Green. Waltex Inc. announced today it plans to break ground for a 20,000-square-foot facility in the South Central Kentucky Industrial Park by the end of the year. It will begin operations early next spring. A planned initial work force of 35 people with an estimated payroll of $1.3 million is only the beginning, said Koichi Kimura, president of Toyo Denyo Co. Ltd., the parent company of Waltex.We have ambitious goals of growth, said Kimura through a translator. We are not some big company like Toyota and Nissan. We are very small but we dont want to stay small. Company officials said the available work force, the trend of automotive industries expanding into the southern part of the United States and other companies testimony about southcentral Kentucky figured into their decision. We now see another big opportunity for expansion into the southern U.S., Kimura said. The company will be able to meet the specific needs of major auto manufacturers and their suppliers that accompany new car models, said Joe Palcher, Waltexs general manager. Depending on those needs, we custom design equipment to fill the need, Palcher said. We manufacture from raw materials and make machinery in order to assemble that machine and to weld parts together and it incorporates robot technology.Representatives from Western Kentucky University and the Kentucky Community Technical College System, which likely will train some of Waltexs work force, were on hand for the announcement at the Bowling Green Area Chamber of Commerce office. The average wage is expected to be about $18 an hour, according to Todd Denham, vice president of the chamber.Ichiro Kimura, president of Waltex and son of the parent companys president, said Waltex consulted with other Japanese companies in Bowling Green before making a decision to locate here. We met some existing Japanese companies, including Sumitomo, Kiriu and they are very, very satisfied and they recommended us coming to this area, Kimura said. Mayor Sandy Jones and Margaret Grissom, president and CEO of the chamber, met with the company on a recent trip to Japan.Having met with this company and others recently in Japan, it is clear that Bowling Green has a presence and is well represented among industry there, Jones said. We plan to continue cultivating these relationships in the future.