ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, June 7, 1996 TAG: 9606070032
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-10 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: PULASKI
SOURCE: NEW RIVER VALLEY BUREAU
Work got under way on a 100,000-square-foot expansion at Renfro Corp.'s Newbern Road plant Thursday.
The expansion at the sock manufacturing plant is expected to add 250 jobs. "This is a notable boost to our economy," said Pulaski Mayor Andy Graham.
"We like your slogan," Graham told Renfro officials. The slogan is: "Renfro Socks - A Good Fit for Pulaski County."
Renfro purchased the former Virginia Maid plant in downtown Pulaski on Jefferson Street about 10 years ago, and still has an operation there. It later built its second plant on Newbern Road, and leased facilities at a third facility in a former department store at a shopping center on Virginia 99.
The expansion at the Newbern Road plant will allow Renfro to drop the leased facilities and consolidate operations at the newer plant. Pulaski County Board of Supervisors Chairman Joe Sheffey noted that the town and county cooperated in providing a $1 million loan for the project.
NationsBank is providing $4.3 million in loan funds, and $700,000 is coming from the Virginia Revolving Loan Fund.
The loans include a refinancing of the original building costs, also financed by NationsBank for the first five years of the building's existence. The total financing package is more than $6 million.
Renfro President Warren Nichols recalled that the 75-year-old Mount Airy, N.C., company's first Pulaski plant on Jefferson Avenue opened with 25 employees in 1987 "and today we have 1,300 employees" with more to come.
The new part of the building will be occupied in 1997, combining steps of the manufacturing process under one roof. Renfro will maintain its Jefferson Avenue plant as well.
Renfro is leasing the Newbern Road building from the Pulaski County Industrial Development Authority, with an option to buy it within five years. Renfro will invest an estimated $12.5 million in new equipment for its Pulaski facilities.
LENGTH: Short : 43 linesby CNB