CEDARTOWN — The Cedartown HON Company anticipates creation of 175 local jobs in conjunction with last week’s announcement of consolidation with its sister plant in Richmond, Va.
Iowa-based HNI Corp., which owns both plants, announced last week plans to close down the manufacturing facility in Virginia and move operations to the Cedartown site in 2008.
The HON Company manufactures office furniture for small- and medium-sized businesses. Rising freight costs necessitated the consolidation, HNI said.
HNI officials say several types of jobs will be created, including manufacturing, skilled trades, engineering and management. The vast majority of the positions will be filled locally, HNI said. Shutdown of the Richmond plant will cut 370 jobs there, and HNI officials said talks are in the works to transfer five to 10 Virginia workers to Cedartown’s plant.
“While this was a very difficult decision for The HON Company and our affected members, we are pleased to have the opportunity to expand manufacturing capacity in Cedartown,” said Todd Murphy, Cedartown HON’s vice president of manufacturing. “We have a long history of growth and operational performance at the Cedartown facility, driven by the dedication and daily improvement efforts of our members. This is a great opportunity for Cedartown and our local economy.”
And while the transition is big news for the Cedartown plant, the public won’t see any change in the facility’s physical appearance.
“We will be converting our distribution center to manufacturing space, so no additional buildings will be needed,” HNI said. “But we will be adding additional manufacturing equipment.”
Company officials say the manufacturing work done at the Richmond plant will be moved to HNI’s Cedartown and Iowa plants and distribution work for these facilities will be transferred to a third-party logistics provider as part of its consolidation.
