ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, August 6, 1996 TAG: 9608060066
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: PULASKI
SOURCE: ELISSA MILENKY STAFF WRITER
In an effort to expand its import and export division, Pulaski Furniture Corp. is buying an 80,000-square-foot building left vacant earlier this year when a clothing manufacturer closed its Pulaski plant.
The expansion will result in 30 new jobs this year, though Pulaski Furniture plans to add on to the building and create more positions in the future, said Barry Matherly, the town's economic development director.
"We're really looking long term at this," he said.
The town is lending the furniture manufacturer $500,000 to buy the $1.5 million building from Diversified Apparel Inc., which announced the closure and layoff of 135 workers in March. The money comes from the town's Urban Development Action fund, which originated as a federal loan program for industrial expansions but is now administered by the town.
Town Council approved the loan at a special meeting Friday.
Pete Crawford, vice president of Pulaski Furniture, said the import/export division of the company accounts for a small percentage in sales and employs 18 people but "shows a lot of potential for growth."
The furniture company exports its products all over the world and imports some furniture parts primarily from Thailand and other Asian countries, which are then assembled into a finished piece. Some table bases are imported, for example, but the company manufactures the table tops and then assembles them.
Crawford said talks began several months ago when the company heard Diversified Apparel planned to sell the building.
"It certainly was a better deal to buy the building ... and we like it that we can keep it in the town of Pulaski," he said. "We were going to be forced to do something in the near future for our import/export division. We just didn't have room in our downtown facility."
Matherly said the building, which is on a 10-acre site at 1201 E. Main St., has had at least three different owners, including Lee Jeans. Diversified Apparel, the latest owner to vacate the building, had been a manufacturer and distributor of children's clothing for Sparkle Sportswear Inc.
"When you get local buildings in local control, you don't have this problem," Matherly said.
In May, Town Council approved a $500,000 loan from the same urban development fund for an expansion at Renfro Corp., which will result in 250 new jobs. Matherly said the town typically lends companies about 45 percent of what they need for purchases and projects.
The town is lending Pulaski Furniture the money at a 3 percent interest rate, which takes into account the company's $14 million investment and creation of 260 jobs since 1993, Matherly said. The rate also reflects Pulaski Furniture's current and furniture investment in this latest expansion.
Pulaski Furniture, one of the New River Valley's largest employers, has other operations in Dublin, Christiansburg, Martinsville and Mebane, N.C. The company reported revenues of $30.2 million during its third quarter.
LENGTH: Medium: 57 linesby CNB