Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, November 4, 1994 TAG: 9411040085
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: A-12 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: TODD JACKSON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: COLLINSVILLE LENGTH: Short
The company will move into an existing 50,000-square-foot building on U.S. 220 Business. Initially, Ashmore will employ 150 and plans to increase the work force to 300 in the first 12 months of operation, according to Ashmore's president, Bill Ashcroft.
The company's renovation of the Collinsville site is expected to be completed by Dec. 1, when production is to begin.
Ashmore, a privately held company founded 13 years ago, manufactures T-shirt products for major brand labels. The company operates three plants in the Lancaster area, none of which is is unionized.
The company expects to pay an average wage of $8.50 an hour, with some workers making as much as $15 an hour, said Frank Novakowski, executive director of the Patrick Henry Development Council.
Working with Martinsville's Sara Lee Corp. - a company that has experienced several rounds of layoffs this year at its Henry County knitwear mills - the development council learned of Ashmore's intentions to expand and began to pursue the prospect just a month ago, said Novakowski.
Ashmore also was considering expansion sites in Alabama and North Carolina, he said. "They liked the product we offered and our textile-oriented work force," he said. "And we liked their people concerns."
Novakowski said displaced Sara Lee workers will have first option on many of the Ashmore jobs.
by CNB