Celebrating three decades in DeKalb County, Shiroki, North America threw a party for its more than 600 employees Saturday.

“We started here in Smithville in 1988,” revealed Jason Cothren, Vice President of Shiroki, North America, noting Smithville was chosen over several other small communities that were considered when Shiroki was looking to locate its headquarters and production facility.

Cothren said the celebration held Saturday, which included a carnival and catered picnic featuring Prater’s BBQ, came as result of deliberation by a committee to determine what to do for its loyal employees. They decided they wanted to do something to include employee families.

“Every five years we try to do something for our employees to celebrate,” he said. “They are really the ones who make this work for us. They are the ones who take care of us.”

Shiroki is one of DeKalb County’s largest employees with over 600 employees. They work with Toyota, Subaru, Nissan and General Motors.

“We have new projects going in now for General Motors that keep us expanding in our truck lines,” Cothren said.

Shiroki provides a variety of products in Smithville include but are not limited to an innovative aluminum door for the Chevy Volt, seat components for the Toyota Tacoma and Sienna and molding for Subaru.