webadmin posted on February 04, 2010 13:52
Statesville-based laboratory furniture manufacturer Kewaunee Scientific Corporation announced today it plans to invest $13 million in a major renovation and expansion project at its facility in Statesville, North Carolina, where the Company has operated since 1955.
The project will be conducted in four phases. Work is scheduled to begin immediately and be completed by 2014. Over that period, the company expects to create 100 new full-time jobs.
Kewaunee, a publically-traded company (NASDAQ:KEQU), has experienced rapid growth in the domestic, Asian, and Middle East markets, and requires additional manufacturing capacity to meet current and projected demand for its products, which include laboratory furniture, fume hoods, epoxy resin worksurfaces and sinks, technical workstations and computer enclosures.
The Company has contracted with Statesville construction firm G.L. Wilson to design and build a 32,000 square foot addition to one of its manufacturing plants and to update and upgrade the existing corporate headquarters. Kewaunee, which also has subsidiaries in Singapore and Bangalore, India, has operated in Statesville for more than 50 years and plans to keep its corporate headquarters and primary manufacturing operations in Statesville.
According to Statesville Mayor Costi Kutteh, "There is no better assurance that a community is up to something good than when one of its oldest, most respected and committed corporate citizens says, 'This is where we want to grow.' Statesville and Kewaunee look forward to growing old together."
Bill Leach, Chairman of the Greater Statesville Development Corporation, focused on the jobs this project will create. "It's exciting to see a local company having success and expanding in a most difficult economy. These hundred jobs Kewaunee is adding will pay an average of $16 an hour. When you factor in the dozens of local construction, electrical, plumbing, architectural and engineering jobs the $13 million investment itself will provide, the impact on the Statesville economy will be enormous."
About Kewaunee Scientific Corporation
Kewaunee Scientific Corporation is a recognized leader in the design, manufacture, and installation of laboratory and technical furniture products. Laboratory furniture products include both steel and wood cabinetry, fume hoods, flexible systems, and worksurfaces. Technical furniture products include work stations, workbenches, computer enclosures, and network storage systems. Kewaunee's corporate headquarters are located in Statesville, North Carolina. The Company's manufacturing facilities are located in Statesville and Bangalore, India. The Company has subsidiaries in Singapore and Bangalore that serve the Asian and Middle East markets.
About Statesville, North Carolina
Statesville is a city of 27,000 located in the central Piedmont region of North Carolina, 38 miles north of Charlotte, 39 miles west of Winston-Salem and 135 miles west of Raleigh. Originally settled in 1753 by Scots-Irish Presbyterians and German Lutherans, today Statesville is a major manufacturing and distribution center, drawing on its location at the intersection of two of the nation's busiest interstate highways, and its proximity to major "New South" cities such as Atlanta, Charlotte and Raleigh. Key industries include metalworking, plastics, automotive parts, textiles and furniture. Located one mile from Interstate 40, Statesville Regional Airport is home to corporate aviation facilities for Fortune 500 companies Lowes Corporation and Newell-Rubbermaid and several NASCAR teams. For more information, visit www.greaterstatesville.org