2 Industrial Employers in 1 Week;
Recruitment Hailed as Part of Economic Uptick
Doug Smith, Charlotte Observer
February 7, 2004

In the past week, Charlotte has attracted two manufacturing employers that will create at least 200 jobs in the next two to three years.

That's 20 percent of the total 1,016 manufacturing jobs announced in Mecklenburg during all of 2003 and an indicator of an upswing in job generation, said Charlotte Chamber research Vice president Tony Crumbley.

The latest announcement came Thursday from Illinois Tool Works Inc.'s Food Equipment Group, which will invest $10 million in a 100,000-square-foot plant to produce Vulcan-Hart and Wolf commercial cooking equipment.

The Glenview, Ill.-based company expects to employ about 75 people in its first year and grow to more than 100 in three years.

Its decision follows Dallas-based Pavestone Co.'s confirmation last week that it will make concrete paving stones, retaining wall segments, edgers, patio stones and bagged rock at a 90,000-square-foot Charlotte plant.

Pavestone plans to employ about 50 people the first year at the renovated Barmag building on Westinghouse Boulevard in southwest Mecklenburg and grow to more than 100 at full capacity in a year or two.

Charlotte is better known for banking than manufacturing, but Crumbley said work-force statistics underscore the importance of "those employers you don't see, tucked away in Arrowood and other places in the county."

Mecklenburg counted 50,080 manufacturing jobs (10.4 percent of the work force) at the end of 2000 - the most recent totals available.

About 58,000 jobs were in banking, finance, insurance and real estate combined, according to the Charlotte Chamber.

Economic development recruiters said North Carolina competed intensely with Virginia for the Vulcan-Hart and Wolf plant.

Jeff Edge, the chamber's vice president for industrial development, said state and local officials helped Charlotte land the project. The N.C. Department of Commerce, Gov. Mike Easley's office, the Mecklenburg County manager's office and the city's economic development office worked closely together, he said.

Easley said the company will receive $100,000 in One North Carolina competitive fund money to buy new equipment, machinery and infrastructure improvements.

Charlotte's Trinity Partners will develop the plant - expandable to 200,000 square feet - to ITW's specifications at Westlake Business Park, off Westinghouse Boulevard.

Intercon Building Corp. is the general contractor. Terry Brennan of Trinity negotiated the deal. Stuart Ingram of CB Richard Ellis represented ITW.

Joe Hahn, vice president of ITW's North American Food Equipment Group, said the company plans to break ground this month and move manufacturing of Wolf and Vulcan products there by late this year.

Capital Grille, Morton's of Chicago, McDonald's, Taco Bell and Westin Hotels are among users of the company's ranges, fryers, ovens, broilers, griddles and steam equipment.

Vulcan-Hart and Wolf Range Co. are independent divisions of ITW, a $10 billion diversified manufacturer employing 47,500 people in 44 countries.

The company will take applications through the N.C. Employment Security Commission and work with Central Piedmont Community College to develop training for new workers.

Pavestone, which has begun remodeling and expects to start production in April, said management, sales, administrative and plant workers can apply by visiting www.pavestone .com/employment or by faxing resumes to the human resources director at (972) 404-9200.

"The growth of Charlotte, and the immediate proximity to cement and aggregate supplies make (the city) ideal for our new facility," said Pavestone Chairman and CEO Robert Schlegel. "It is also a central location for our eastern distribution channels."