ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, August 23, 1996 TAG: 9608230038
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: PULASKI
SOURCE: PAUL DELLINGER STAFF WRITER
The space occupied by Jefferson Mills is about to grow. Again.
Since the initial 30,000-square-foot Pulaski yarn-processing plant opened in 1938, Jefferson Mills has expanded its size 10 times to a total of some 300,000 square feet. Now, two of its buildings will be connected with a 21,000-square-foot addition.
"The idea of building a building in the middle of the street is one, quite frankly, that never occurred to me," Executive Vice President Denny Pace said at Wednesday's groundbreaking.
But the addition will do just that, closing a block of First Street Southwest between Valley Road and Maple Street, linking the original 1938 Main Plant and newer South Plant. The project required permission from the town to close that section of the street and relocating power, water, sewer and gas transmission lines.
President and Chief Executive Officer Dave Spangler admitted it has not been easy. Once completed, in about four months, it will be used mainly as warehouse space to free other plant areas for further expansion.
Two more yarn-texturing machines scheduled to be added early next year will bring total production capacity to about 500,000 pounds of processed yarn each week. Five years ago, the total was 260,000 pounds a week.
That was when Spangler, Pace and four of Jefferson Mills' primary sales agents got together and bought the company from its single owner. The company was having financial difficulties at the time.
The new owners reversed that and became profitable again by regaining customer relationships, reducing operating costs, and working to re-establish the morale of its work force, which now numbers about 400 people. "We're rebuilding it slowly, so that it will last," Spangler said.
The employees' dedication was personalized at the groundbreaking by Jesse Hopkins, starting his 55th year with the company - "longer than I've been alive," Spangler said.
The other owners, some of whom joined Spangler, Pace and Hopkins for the formal groundbreaking, include three marketing vice presidents from Charlotte, N.C. - Charles R. "Bo" Ibach III, William J. Lovell and Joel D. Wiggins - and Charles R. Ibach Jr., board chairman, also of Charlotte.
"We hope to have it finished by the end of the year," Pace said, in time to accommodate the new equipment arriving in 1997.
LENGTH: Short : 49 linesby CNB