Agenda - 06-01-1992 - Laserfiche WebLink

Browse Search

wo dustries plan business'., ,expansion ins 1 north Orange County 1 By Tim Craig Starr Writer Two Orange County industries are expanding operations, though it is too early to tell if the county is experiencing long -term growth in economic development, according to the Economic Development Commission director. The Parker Hannifin Corporation announced it will expand and consolidate its facilities by the spring of next year. Currently, Parker. Hannifin, a Cleveland -based corporation, has two facilities in Hillsborough. on Elizabeth Brady Road and at Boone Square. The company manufactures iraulic cylinders and accumulators tur hydraulic machinery and systems. The corporation. -planned to'. consolidate the two locations into one at the Elizabeth Brady Road site from the time it moved to Hillsborough in 1984, according to an official. "We fully intended to move over there from the beginning," said Larry Rinehart. '. "Sales have supported investing in a larger j plant." Rinehart said that the corporation . is happy to be in Hillsborough, and. the move gives an indication the corporation will stay in . Hillsborough. "The town has given us support and now we are investing in it," he said. "[The move] 'gives the indication of the kind of support j we've had." The planned 21,000- square -foot, 3- million expansion will allow ...e corporation to add six new employees, bringing the total to .111. Groundbreaking is expected to take place in September, with completion in early spring. Mebane Packaging Company in Orange County will add 46 employees during its $4 -mWion to 4.5- million, 60,000 - square -foot expansion. Don Bradshaw, vice president of administration for the company, said that groundbreaking would begin as j soon as late 1990 on the expansion, assuming everything falls into place. Bradshaw also said the planned expansion was the third of the manufacturing division since Mebane Packaging was built in 1973. Expansions occurred in 1976 .and in.. 1985 when Mebane packaging _added the CustomFlute The News of Orange County July, 4, 1990 Company. Mebane Packaging makes folding cartons for pharmaceutical, cosmetic and personal hygiene products as well as promotional preprinted cartons for the tobacco industry and other companies. The current workforce of Mebane Packaging is 253 employees. The average wages for the workforce is 15 percent above the average i manufacturing wage in Orange County. The expansion plan calls for the + addition of 60,000 square feet and the consolidation of 30,000 square feet; bringing the total area to 230,000 square feet after the planned expansion. Orange County Economic ! Development Commission Director Ted Abernathy called the expansion plan "good" and said the county may see more and more of this type of expansion. "What we are seeing is that the businesses are happy in Orange County," he said. "Some of these businesses also have plants outside the county, but chose to stay, bringing increasingly high - paying jobs to the county." Abernathy said that the county is seeing the number of vacancies drop in two of the county's largest business centers — Hillsborough Business Center and the Europa Center in Chapel Hill. is a long -term growth remains to be seen." The Economic Development Commission played a key role in both of the planned expansions, said Abernathy. The commission helped Mebane Packaging secure the $5.5 million industrial bonds it will need for the expansion, while for Parker' Hannifin, the commission brought company, town and county officials! together early on to make the time frame for the expansion as short as possible. The expansion of Mebane Packaging is expected to generate an additional $20,000 in property taxes in Orange County. "The pattern is looking Lisa Allen contributed 'to this positive," he said. "taut whether this story.