ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, March 21, 1996 TAG: 9603210016
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: GREG EDWARDS STAFF WRITER
Acadia Polymers of Roanoke has been named sole supplier of seals for a new transmission to be introduced by Chrysler Corp. in its 1999 models - a deal that should eventually mean $15 million annually in new sales for Acadia.
The contract won't have any immediate impact on employment at Acadia's Clifton Forge plant, where 140 people were laid off last year when the company shifted work to its other plants.
But the deal certainly won't be a negative for the Clifton Forge plant, which will make some of the transmission parts, said Bill Schumann, Acadia's vice president for sales and marketing.
"It certainly ensures the future and viability of that facility," Schumann said Wednesday.
Acadia has supplied parts to Chrysler for about 50 years, but the Detroit automaker is departing from normal practice by giving Acadia responsibility for supplying all the rubber parts in the transmission,
Sales to Chrysler should increase by about 21/2 times once the parts go into full production after the year 2000, Schumann said.
"It's a major milestone for us not only from the standpoint of sales but the fact that Chrysler has such a high degree of confidence in our technological capability," he said.
Acadia employs about 40 people at its headquarters, which includes research and development operations, on Coulter Drive near Roanoke Regional Airport. The company employs about 900 people at seven U.S. manufacturing plants, including roughly 150 at a plant near Clifton Forge.
Acadia's job will be to provide the seals for all the hydraulics in the transmission which will be used in rear-wheel-drive vehicles. The sealing system will contain more than 30 components, including high-tech bonded pistons and composite seals, traditional seals and O-rings.
"To my knowledge, this is the largest single program ever awarded by Chrysler for transmission seals," Schumann said.
Acadia designs and makes precision molded and machined polymer products for automotive, business machine and industrial markets. Besides Chrysler, the company also supplies Ford, General Motors and other automakers.
The Harbour Group of St. Louis sold Acadia last year to the Jordan Co. of New York, another private investment group. Acadia reported sales of $88 million in its fiscal year ended last June.
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