By Ryan Jeltema – Daily News staff writer<\/p>\n
GREENVILLE \u00e2\u20ac\u201d Amid thousands of recent job losses, businesses around Greenville continue to grow and add jobs.
\n<\/p>\n
At least five local companies either have opened anew or expanded operations in the city over the past few months, amounting to nearly 100 new jobs.
\n Most of the growth has occurred in existing plants not located in the city\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s new industrial park, which soon will be designated a tax-free renaissance zone by the state.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153All our efforts are beginning to pay off,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said Mayor Lloyd Walker. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153This is a tribute to our community.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d
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\nGreenville companies adding production space and jobs since 2004 include the following.<\/p>\n
Amerida Premium Hardwoods<\/p>\n
Owner Tom Godfrey opened the plant at 608 Callaghan St. about two years ago with five employees manufacturing wood components for the home furniture industry.<\/p>\n
Amerida recently completed a 24,000-square-foot expansion and increased its workforce to 24 employees. Godfrey said he is still looking to hire one or two more workers with at least five years experience in woodworking.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve found the city very friendly to business,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Godfrey said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Greenville is a great place to do business.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
He said the company has found some niches in the furniture industry supplying small wood parts made from imported woods. By buying raw materials direct from Canadian sawmills, Amerida is able to keep customers\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 costs down.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153We can do smaller runs and be flexible,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Godfrey said.<\/p>\n
The company may not be finished growing. He said salesmen are working on obtaining new contracts that may bring more jobs.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153There are several new jobs that, if we got them, it would require us to grow more,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Godfrey said.<\/p>\n
Grand Rapids Controls<\/p>\n
Headquartered in Rockford, Grand Rapids Controls (GRC) opened a new manufacturing operation in September in half the 30,000-square-foot Miro building at 715 Callaghan St.<\/p>\n
The company currently employs 25 workers making motion control assemblies for the automotive and office furniture industries. More work being moved to Greenville is expected to bring another 20 jobs, boosting Grand Rapids Controls\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 local workforce to 45.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Greenville is attractive to GRC because many of our employees come from cities north of Rockford,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said Chief Executive Officer Jim Bradbury. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Greenville also has a good infrastructure and a large employee resource available.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153GRC is very pleased with our experience in Greenville,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153If we are in the position to grow in the future, Greenville will be a consideration.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
Great Lakes Commercial Buildings<\/p>\n
The company recently moved into the former Menasha Packaging building at 1216 Shearer Road.<\/p>\n
Owner Chad Covell, who worked in the manufactured building industry, opened the business in January with about 20 employees building commercial modular structures such as portable classrooms and offices.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153We felt this was a good area,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The community is large enough that we have the support of suppliers locally.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
Great Lakes\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 wood and steel structures range in size from 300 to 20,000 square feet. They are sold through dealers throughout the Midwest. Covell said sales have been strong and he sees no limit to the company\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s growth potential.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Growth will be driven by how successful we are at increasing revenue,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Covell said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153We will add employees as needed.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
Greenville Tool & Die<\/p>\n
The 60-year-old Greenville company recently added two new die presses and created four to six new jobs.<\/p>\n
Plant Manager Dale Hartway said Greenville Tool & Die is operating at capacity now, but work levels fluctuate rapidly in the industry.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153We could build a die in six months, then never see it again,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said.<\/p>\n
The trust of former company owners Stanley and Blanche Ash recently sold the business to its employees through a stock ownership arrangement.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153We have become more competitive in the tool and die industry since we are employee owned,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Hartway said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The efficiencies have allowed us to get costs down.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
DLT Industries<\/p>\n
The company currently is constructing a new 12,000-square-foot factory on Callaghan Street near Kent Foundry.<\/p>\n
Owner Dave Tamblin said DLT, which manufactures die cutting, packaging and other assemblies for the office furniture and automotive industries, opened about six years ago in a 6,000-square-foot building at 425 Fairplains St.<\/p>\n
Tamblin said moving to the new facility will allow the company to increase efficiency and provide room for future growth. With just three employees now, he said DLT is poised to add customers and possibly more workers.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m cautiously optimistic,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Tamblin said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153We have steady work and good potential projects in the cooker. We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re either going to grow or shrink. We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re not going to stay the same.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
Construction crews poured footings for the new buildings late last year. Tamblin hopes to begin operations there during the summer.<\/p>\n
The future?<\/p>\n
Walker said more new jobs may be headed to Greenville soon \u00e2\u20ac\u201d and in larger numbers.<\/p>\n
The city has about three or four \u00e2\u20ac\u0153promising\u00e2\u20ac\u009d prospects on the horizon. Some newcomers could be announced soon.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m encouraged,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Walker said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I think we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re going to have good news about jobs in the industrial park. The future looks bright.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
On Jan. 16, 2004, Electrolux announced that it planned to close the world\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s largest refrigerator factory in Greenville, idling more than 2,700 workers. That shutdown is scheduled for Friday.<\/p>\n
Electrolux Vice President of Corporate Communications Tony Evans said from his office in Augusta, Ga., that future employers in the city will find an excellent workforce.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s an outstanding workforce there,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Electrolux people have performed very well with the plant closing.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
Walker eventually expects the city to replace all 3,000 jobs lost from Electrolux; Tower Automotive, which announced Monday that it will close its Greenville plant this year, idling about 225 employees; and Greenville Wire Products, which closed in January 2012, leaving 160 workers jobless.<\/p>\n
Numerous state and local agencies are collaborating to market the city to prospective employers.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153We have met all the challenges put before us,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Walker said. City Manager \u00e2\u20ac\u0153George (Bosanic) has worked day and night to recruit new businesses. This area has an indomitable spirit.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Ryan Jeltema – Daily News staff writer GREENVILLE \u00e2\u20ac\u201d Amid thousands of recent job losses, businesses around Greenville continue to grow and add jobs. At least five local companies either have opened anew or expanded operations in the city over the past few months, amounting to nearly 100 new jobs. Most of the growth […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-207","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-furniture-world-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/indonesia-furniture.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/indonesia-furniture.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/indonesia-furniture.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indonesia-furniture.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indonesia-furniture.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=207"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/indonesia-furniture.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/indonesia-furniture.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=207"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indonesia-furniture.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=207"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indonesia-furniture.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=207"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}