YKK Corp. of America has fully embraced its founder Tadao Yoshida’s corporate philosophy “Cycle of Goodness,” which states that no one prospers without rendering benefit to others, particularly the community.
“Everything that we do within the company, all of our business activities, all of our engagement with the community is in keeping with that philosophy. Sustainability has always been very important for us,” said Jessica Kennett Cork, YKK Corp. of America’s vice president for community engagement and corporate communications.
YKK has subscribed to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal to achieve climate neutrality by 2050. It opened its first U.S. office in New York in 1960 and established operations in Georgia in 1970.
“We set up operations here in Georgia because at the time, the textile industry was shifting from the Northeast to the Southeast region of the United States. The founder of the company had a dream of manufacturing in the United States and wanted to establish a vertically integrated manufacturing facility,” Cork said.
“We just continued to expand, grow, and develop a very strong presence in Georgia. All of our companies are headquartered in Georgia now,” she added.
To date, the entire YKK Americas Group employs around 1,500 employees in Georgia and around 4,000 in total in North, Central and South America.
While YKK has become a household name in zippers, the company makes other products with industrial applications for automotive companies, the American military, and the aerospace industry.
