Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, May 25, 1990 TAG: 9005250098
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B1 EDITION: STATE
SOURCE: PAUL DELLINGER SOUTHWEST BUREAU
DATELINE: WYTHEVILLE LENGTH: Medium
Officials of Russell Corp. of Alexander City, Ala., said the 40,000-square-foot building will be constructed on a 24-acre site in Fairview Industrial Park and should be operational in two years.
The facility, operating as Cross Creek Apparel Inc., will make knit clothing of various kinds, mainly tops and bottoms for exercise and jogging-style garments. It will have an annual $4 million payroll when fully operational.
"One of the things that impressed us up front was the beautification efforts and the cleanliness of Wytheville," said Dick Dickson, Russell's vice president of personnel and industrial relations.
Other factors included the industrial park site, labor pool, cooperation from Wytheville and Wythe County and a location within a certain distance of the company's major operation at Mount Airy, N.C., he said. "All of these things are really what brought us to Wytheville."
The announcement followed a meeting of the Joint Wythe County Industrial Development Authority and a vote by the Wytheville IDA to sell the tract to Russell Corp. for an undisclosed sum.
The company plans to start partial operations soon after the start of 1991, with full employment six to nine months later, said Hank Spires, vice president of manufacturing services. "We look forward to expanding here," said David Booth, general manager, Cross Creek Apparel.
Dickson said Russell's emphasis on research and development has kept the company expanding when other textile firms are not. "We have stayed on the cutting edge of technology," he said, having spent $100 million in the last five years on new plants and equipment.
The company has one other Virginia plant in Hillsville, as well as plants in Alabama, Georgia, Florida and North Carolina. It has 15,000 employees nationally.
by CNB