Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, August 16, 1995 TAG: 9508160076
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By JEFF STURGEON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Roy Jacuzzi, president and chief executive officer of the Walnut Creek, Calif., company, confirmed Tuesday that it is unlikely it will manufacture its upscale baths in Salem before 1996. The company earlier had announced plans to operate a factory and warehouse in an existing building at 2050 Cook Drive. The facility had been scheduled to open by July 1.
Jacuzzi said the company still plans to manufacture the tubs at the Salem facility, which would need at least 150 employees. For now, he said, the company is using the plant as a warehouse and distribution hub that employs relatively few workers. He denied to give an exact number.
Jacuzzi whirlpools and spas contain fiberglass as a reinforcement for the hard plastic shell of the tubs. Since last summer, makers of the plastic glass generally have been unable to supply users such as Jacuzzi increased quantities of the product. Jacuzzi would need a supply of fiberglass to start production at the Salem plant.
The demand for the plastic glass exceeds the amount manufacturers can produce because production was curtailed during the last economic recession, and the industry underestimated how fast demand would bounce back, said Bob Lacovara, technical director of the Composites Fabricators Association in Alexandria. He predicted the shortage would begin to ease by this fall.
PPG Industries in Pittsburgh, one Jacuzzi supplier, is building a $50 million plant in Chester, S.C., said Linn Noah, director of manufacturing communications.
Jacuzzi said, "This has gotten to be a terrible situation." To continue operating its seven plants in Southern California, the company has turned to fiberglass plants in Mexico, South America and China for supplies.
He said the shortfall is particularly exasperating because it comes at a time when Jacuzzi has unprecedented demand for its whirlpool tubs.
In January, the company announced plans for the Salem factory, which could employ as many as 300 people if the increased sales continue. A long-term lease for the building has been signed, said Tommy Turner, an associate for Hart Corp., the Philadelphia area-based real estate brokerage that owns the building.
The state Department of Environmental Quality in May issued an air-pollution permit for the plant.
The Contra Costa Times of Walnut Creek, Calif., contributed information to this story.
by CNB