ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, April 23, 1996 TAG: 9604230102
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JEFF STURGEON STAFF WRITER
THIRTY-FIVE BATHTUBS A DAY are being turned out now. The goal is 150 to 200 units, including whirlpool tubs, spas and showers with sound systems.
Jacuzzi Whirlpool Bath has begun production at its long-delayed Salem factory, making 35 bathtubs a day and expecting to reach almost four times that rate this summer, a company spokeswoman said Monday.
"It's definitely up and running," Michelle Peterson said.
The company announced plans for the factory in January 1995 and intended to begin production last summer. Operations were delayed with company executives saying they had encountered a fiberglass shortage and problems getting equipment.
The Salem plant's first 25 employees were hired since January and 75 more will be hired by June 1, Peterson said.
Jacuzzi, of Walnut Creek, Calif., calls itself the world's largest manufacturer of whirlpool products. Its expansion in Salem is its first U.S. production facility outside California, other than a Little Rock, Ark., pump factory. The company's goal is 150 to 200 units daily in Salem, including whirlpool bathtubs, spas and deluxe shower units with sound systems.
Peterson said production is scheduled to reach 100 bathtubs and 25 spas by summer.
Jacuzzi has leased its new location, 2050 Cook Drive, the former home of Grove Worldwide Manlift Operations, which stopped using the plant in 1993. The Salem facility is also intended to double as a warehouse, officials have said.
Employment applications can be filed at the plant or the Virginia Employment Commission's Roanoke office, Peterson said.
LENGTH: Short : 39 linesby CNB