Caterpillar has hired Plateau Excavation of Austell to excavate and grade the property near Athens, Ga., for its 1 million-square-foot manufacturing plant. Work on the $200 million heavy equipment plant has begun already. The project should be significantly completed by January 2013, and Plateau has 35-40 team members working on the project – approximately half of which are new hires. Caterpillar plans to eventually employ 1,400 at the new facility.