Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, December 7, 1994 TAG: 9412070120
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MICHAEL STOWE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Wolverine president Dennis Webber said in an interview the new production line will laminate metal gasket material with various coatings that then will be sold to companies that make automobile head gaskets.
"The demand for that product is growing every day," he said.
Don Moore, economic-development director for Montgomery County, said his office and the state Department of Economic Development have been working since July to persuade Wolverine to build the new facility in Virginia. The plant near Blacksburg was competing with a Michigan site.
"We are real excited about this, because they are such a good company," Moore said.
Wolverine, owned by Eagle-Picher Industries Inc. of Cincinnati, opened its first Montgomery County plant in 1973 and has expanded from 50,000 square feet to 147,000 square feet since then.
The facility in Blacksburg's industrial park manufactures brake compressors and other gaskets and noise-control products for cars. The factory employs about 300.
Webber, who was plant manager at the Blacksburg facility from 1983-86, said the company was pleased with the cooperation it got from the county.
"It's just a great community," he said.
The new production facility will be located in an extension of the Blacksburg industrial park, about half a mile from Wolverine's current plant. Moore said the expansion facility would be located outside the town limits.
Webber said Wolverine has been negotiating with the state for some building incentives, but that he could not yet release how much, if any, aid the company is getting.
Webber said he hopes to start construction soon and have the plant running by January 1996.
The company initially will hire 25 workers to run the production line, and then add about 25 more jobs in the next few months.
Wage scales for the jobs were unavailable Tuesday.
Nick Rush, vice chairman of the Montgomery County Board of Supervisors, said he hopes the Wolverine expansion will create a ripple effect in job creation.
"When new manufacturing jobs are added, additional retail and service jobs also follow," he said.
by CNB