Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 7, 1990 TAG: 9003071719
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A1 EDITION: BEDFORD/FRANKLIN
SOURCE: GEORGE KEGLEY BUSINESS EDITOR
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The Minneapolis company said Tuesday that its Addressograph Division will consolidate two Maryland plants and another in Ohio at the Franklin County Industrial Park site, as well as moving its headquarters there.
Construction will start today on the $3 million building and production is scheduled to start in late July. The metal and brick-faced structure will have 100,000 square feet of factory space and 9,000 square feet of offices.
The new plant will have a payroll of $3.5 million. Its work force will include 60 office and clerical employees.
Sanders Cochran, president of the Addressograph Division, said the company considered several other states and other Virginia communities before choosing the Rocky Mount site. He said this location is attractive "because of the availability of qualified labor and the strong work ethic here."
Cochran said he was impressed by the cooperation from state and local officials during the site selection.
Lawrence Framme, state secretary of economic development, said he has no doubt that DataCard, the world's largest maker of credit cards and related equipment, "will leave a favorable imprint on the economy of Franklin County" with new jobs and a sizable investment.
Top officials of the division will move but only a very small number of employees are expected to move to Rocky Mount, according to Rick Huff, Franklin County administrator.
The Addressograph Division, now based near Akron, makes almost a million imprinters each year for the financial, health, petroleum, retail, travel and entertainment markets. DataCard makes a number of types of the table-top imprinters.
The company said it will consolidate all of the division's U.S. plants at Rocky Mount but a factory in Ireland will not be affected.
DataCard said it will work with the industrial training division of the state Department of Economic Development to train workers for the assembly jobs. The training is expected to be arranged through Virginia Western Community College in Roanoke and Patrick Henry Community College at Martinsville.
DataCard is owned by a privately held West German company whose principal stockholders are the Quandt family of Bad Homburg.
The plant will be built on a 10-acre tract in the park owned jointly by Franklin County and Rocky Mount. C&C Construction of Waynesboro is the general contractor. Weaver Mirror and Franklin Body Works are located in the industrial park.
DataCard has annual sales of $225 million and 2,800 employes at its operations, including factories in England, France, Belgium, Holland, Sweden, Spain, Japan, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia and Australia.
by CNB