THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, July 10, 1994 TAG: 9407080308
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN PAGE: 08 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY CAROLE O'KEEFFE, CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: SUFFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 77 lines
IF INDUSTRIAL EXPANSIONS are any clue to economic conditions, things are definitely looking up in Suffolk.
Plant improvements are in progress at Nestle Beverage Company and Allied Colloids, construction of a new Planter's factory is almost complete, and Virginia Design Packaging Corp. will break ground soon on its own expansion project.
Other local companies have recently expanded their production capacity and work force, as well, or have plans to do so in the near future.
When construction at the Nestle plant in Wilroy Industrial Park is completed this fall, the coffee manufacturer will funnel all its beans for East Coast processing through Suffolk, an increase in local handling of 30 percent.
The expansion will provide additional space for bulk receiving, green coffee storage, high-speed blending and bulk loading.
The San Francisco-based company produces Hills Bros., Chase & Sanborn and MJB ground coffee here.
The majority of beans arrive via ship. Some are stored in Suffolk, some blended, and some processed and packed.
``Our partnership with the port of Hampton Roads is extremely favorable,'' said Nestle's plant manager Paul C. Schmidt. ``It is due to this and other factors that Nestle Beverage has elected to expand our receiving capabilities here in Suffolk.''
Though most of the new operations will be automated, the plant may hire an additional four employees.
Allied Colloids on Wilroy Road opened a new warehouse in May 1993 and is now working on a $10 million plant expansion.
The new building should be completed by early 1996, president David Farrar said. The company plans to add 10 jobs.
Allied Colloids will use the new plant to produce acrylamide, an ingredient of polymers it has been importing from England.
Polymers are used in water treatment and in the mining, paper and oil industries.
The company is a subsidiary of Britain's Allied Colloids, founded in Bradford, England, in 1935. It located in Suffolk in 1983 and now employs 385.
The Planters LifeSavers Company broke ground more than a year ago at 245 Cullodan Street on a new $35 million plant.
Planters began production in mid-May on one product line at the new plant, which will be fully operational by the end of August, plant manager Gerald Chesser said.
Virginia Design Packaging Corp., a manufacturer of plastic containers, lids and loose-packing material in Wilroy Industrial Park, expects to break ground on a 40,000 square-foot, $800,000 expansion within weeks.
The project will allow relocation and expansion of the company's printing operations, space for additional machines and an enlarged warehouse.
Approximately 10 employees will be added by the end of the year.
Other plant expansions recently completed or planned in the near future include:
Penn Engineering, a manufacturer of industrial fasteners, recently doubled the size of its plant in Wilroy Industrial Park.
The company has increased its local work force by about 75 percent since opening in 1989.
Crown, Cork & Seal Co., a manufacturer of coffee cans in Wilroy Industrial Park, plans to start construction in October on a $390,000 plant expansion, to be completed early in 1995. The company will add eight jobs.
Supreme Foods Inc., a manufacturer of restaurant supplies and food products in Wilroy Industrial Park, is working on plans for $350,000 in plant improvements. The expansion will mean 15 new jobs. ILLUSTRATION: Photo by ERIC THINGSTAD
Construction is under way at Allied Colloids for an improved
drum-handling facility, a retention pond and new roadways.
by CNB