RELOCATIONS & EXPANSIONS

If you have news regarding relocations and expansions in the American South, send your press release or news clippings to Beverly Randle - fax: 205-733-1974; email: beverly@sb-d.com

ALABAMA

Hyundai Breaks Ground in Alabama

The Hyundai Motor Company has chosen Montgomery, Ala. as the site for its first auto manufacturing plant in the United States. Glendale, Ky. and Montgomery had remained on Hyundai's final list of candidates for the $1 billion plant after the company ruled out Mississippi and Ohio. The plant will hire 4,000 workers and make 300,000 cars a year beginning in 2005. The Korean automaker will receive a $252.8 million package of economic incentives, tax breaks and other perks to build its auto assembly plant in Montgomery. State and local governments will give up to $234.6 million in incentives, including costs for training 2,000 workers and for getting the 1,600 acre site ready for the manufacturer. The incentives work out to $117,317 per job, compared to $168,666 per job for Mercedes-Benz in 1993.

Auto Parts Distribution Center to Open in Saraland

O'Reilly Automotive is planning to lease a 200,000-square-foot auto parts distribution facility in Saraland that will create 200 new jobs. The warehouse was originally built to serve paper mills, but closed before it was ever used. O'Reilly is also investing $1 million to expand the facility's parking lot.

Microwave Roaster Locates in Dallas County

Microwave Roasters recently opened in the South Dallas County Industrial Park, employing 10. Microwave Roasters manufactures Peanut Roasters, a snack that allows customers to roast peanuts in the microwave while still in the shell. The company produces 21,000 bags of the peanuts daily, which are marketed to convenience stores and supermarkets.

Fabricating Equipment Facility Expands in Pell City

Duraweld has opened a new 31,000-square-foot facility in Pell City Industrial Park, employing 30 and representing a near $1 million capital investment for the city. The multi-faceted manufacturing and fabricating facility relocated from a former site in St.Clair County. Duraweld specializes in just-in-time delivery of structural, light and heavy gauge steel, process piping, handrails and stairs, walkways and other fabricated metal components.

ACIPCO Finishes $80 Million Expansion

Birmingham's American Cast Iron Pipe Company recently completed an $80 million, 61,000-square-foot melt shop expansion. The three-mile long pipe casting plant is considered the largest in the world. The project adds a fifth electric arc furnace that could add up to 35 jobs at the facility. ACIPCO employs 2,300 people at its plant. Founded in 1905, it is the city's second largest manufacturer and one of the nation's largest makers of iron pressure pipe.

Genpak Corporation to Expand in Montgomery

Genpak Corporation, a manufacturer of plastic containers, is expanding with an additional location at Montgomery's Interstate Industrial Park. The new building will be 200,000 square feet located on 38 acres. Genpak will add 140 jobs with a capital investment of $13 million at completion.

ARKANSAS

Champion to Expand Hope Plant

Champion Parts Inc. will expand production capacity at its plant in Hope, creating 100 jobs. The company relocated its corporate operations to Hope two years ago. Recently, Champion announced it would close its Beech Creek, Pa. manufacturing plant and consolidate operations in Hope. Champion products include remanufactured wiper motors, alternators, starters, generators, distributors, power steering gears, carburetors and CV axles. Some of the company's customers are Advance Auto Parts, AutoZone, Case-New Holland, Daimler-Chrysler, John Deere, Honda and Sierra.

Goodrich Cancels Plant Closing, Will Add Jobs Instead

Goodrich Aerospace is canceling plans to close its Arkadelphia plant and instead will add 75 or more manufacturing jobs at the facility. Goodrich had cited a decline in the airline industry for the decision to close the plant and lay off 175 workers. Goodrich reconsidered and now plans to consolidate other manufacturing operations from plants in California at the Arkadelphia plant and boost the workforce. The plant produces replacement parts for airplanes.

Superior Industries Opens New Plant at Heber Springs

Superior Industries International of Van Nuys, Calif., will hire 300 people to work at its renovated and expanded auto parts manufacturing plant in Heber Springs. The upgraded plant produces suspension and other underbody components for automobiles. The plant also designs, makes and tests other auto parts. The company currently employs 100 workers.

Xerox Opens Facility in Hot Springs

Xerox Corp. has opened a 51,000-square-foot facility that will house its electronic imaging business. The new facility employs 275 workers and is Xerox's primary site for converting, storing and uploading content of all types including office documents, floor plans, invoices, contracts and a variety of digital file formats. The new building has nearly three times the production space and network capacity than the company's previous Hot Springs facility.

FLORIDA

Military Supplier Buys Titusville Facility

Knight Enterprises, which makes military hardware, has purchased the former Boeing Tomahawk missile plant in Titusville. The 620,000-square-foot plant sits on 454 acres. Knight is expected to hire 500 highly skilled employees within two years to work at the facility. The product produced at the plant was not announced.

TYBRIN Adds 100 More Jobs

A new contract awarded to TYBRIN Corp. will add more than 100 employees to the Fort Walton Beach-based company, making it the fourth-largest employer in the county. TYBRIN won a $200 million contract from the U.S. Air Force to provide mission planning system enhancement at the Hill Air Force Base in Utah. A team of 40 systems and software personnel will run a new TYBRIN office at Hill, and 67 mission planning system support personnel will be located at 47 other bases, including 12 overseas locations.

Needle Manufacturer Plans Expansion in Deland

The Kendall Company, a medical needle manufacturer, will spend $90 million to expand its plant in Deland. The plant, which manufactures needles for everything from blood drives to anesthesia injections, will hire 80 more workers in the next five years for a new product line.

Mortgage Company to Locate in Jacksonville

A subsidiary of H&R Block is opening a call center operation in Jacksonville that will employ about 370. Option One Mortgage Corp., which has a call center in Irvine, Ca., has chosen the northeast Florida market for a collections and cash processing service center. Company officials cited Jacksonville's low cost of housing and large pool of call center workers as its reasons for siting in the market.

GEORGIA

Elan Corporation to Expand Gainesville Facility

Irish pharmaceutical company Elan Corporation is planning a $40 million, 52,000 square foot expansion at its facility in Gainesville that will create up to 100 new jobs over three years. The expansion, which will be completed by next year, will allow the company to increase capsule production from 100 million to 600 million a year.

Ritz Camera To Open Center in Suwanee

Ritz Camera will open a distribution center in Gwinnett County. The Beltsville, Maryland-based company has leased 192,750 square feet at the former Webvan distribution center at Shawneee Ridge in Suwanee. The distribution center will be operational this summer.

Fred's to Build Distribution Center in Atlanta

Fred's Inc., a Memphis, Tenn.-based owner of 385 discount general merchandise stores in the Southeast, is building a 600,000-square-foot, $25 million distribution center in Atlanta. The facility will allow Fred's to better serve its markets in Alabama, Georgia, Florida, North Carolina and South Carolina as well as its expected growth into new markets in the future.

Water Company Opens Call Center in Flowery Branch

Crystal Springs Water Company has opened a $3 million national call center in Flowery Branch that employs 140 people. The call center consolidates customer service operations that were scattered across the country.

KANSAS

StressCrete to Build Plant in Atchison

StressCrete, a Canadian concrete pole manufacturer, will build a $6 million plant in Atchison that will employ 80 workers. The plant will be built after demand grows in the markets to be served. Atchison was chosen for the plant because it can serve the West while also covering cities like St. Louis and Chicago.

Baader North America Chooses Kansas City

German-based Baader North America Corporation is expanding its existing unit in Kansas City and relocating its North American headquarters from Fort Myers, Fla. to Kansas City. Baader will create 30 to 50 new jobs and invest $2 to $3 million in the operation. Baader is a poultry processing equipment manufacturer.

Integrated Solutions Group Opens Center in Wichita

Salina, Kan.-based Integrated Solutions Group, a regional computer technology company, has opened a call center in Wichita. The company has hired three employees for the center, and will hire up to 10 people. The center will serve 3000 to 4000 customers. The main service provided will be desktop applications and operating systems support.

United Grain to Build $13.5 Million Facility in Scandia

United Grain, a privately owned grain marketing, storage and transport company that specializes in commodities including yellow corn, wheat, sorghum and soybeans, will build a $13.5 million plant in Scandia. The plant will produce 10 million gallons per year of fuel grade ethanol from corn and milo food stocks. The plant will be located near one of United Grains' sister companies, Premium Feeders Inc.

KENTUCKY

Johnan America Expanding in Bardstown

Johnan America will nearly triple the size of its Bardstown operations by building a new manufacturing plant there. The company, which is a subsidiary of Johnan Seisakusho Co. of Japan, will build a 25,000-square-foot facility in Bardstown's Wilson Industrial Park as the first phase of its expansion. Johnan currently has an 8,500-square-foot plant in Bardstown, where it manufactures components for the automotive industry. The expansion will create 40 new jobs.

Webasto Roof Opens Second Facility

Webasto Roof Systems broke ground in March on a new $28 million, 200,000-square-foot facility in Lexington. The new facility is located directly across the street from the company's existing 115,000-square-foot plant. Two hundred jobs are expected to be created at the new facility.

LOUISIANA

Amitech America Building Facility in East Baton Rouge Parish

Amitech America will build a 100,000-square-foot facility in East Baton Rouge Parish. The facility will produce two types of pipe: a laminated plastic pipe and a polymer concrete pipe. About 60 new jobs will be created when the plant is operational by year-end. There are already plans to expand the plant within two years and increase the number of workers to 200.

Food Products Company Chooses Madisonville

Diversified Foods and Seasonings chose Madisonville, La., for its latest food processing facility. The company will produce sauces, gravies, seasonings and other food products at the $22 million plant. The new 55,000-square-foot facility will open in the fall.

Georgia Pacific Adds Jobs

About 115 new jobs will be added to the Port Hudson paper plant owned by Georgia Pacific. The paper giant took advantage of a tax break match offered by the state of Louisiana. The expansion will include new equipment installed at the plant. The investment is expected to be near $200 million.

MARYLAND

Science Applications International Corporation Consolidates and Expands in Hartford Co.

Science Applications International Corporation, a Fortune 500 company specializing in research and engineering, is consolidating its Hartford County operations by leasing 85,000 square feet of space at Box Hill Corporate Center. The San Diego, Calif.-based company, known as SAIC, will consolidate 420 of the company's existing employees from Abingdon, Emmorton, Joppa and Joppatowne. The company will also add 130 new jobs.

IKEA International to Open Call Center in White Marsh

IKEA International will open a call center in White Marsh that will employ 180 people. The new facility will assist the home furnishings retailer in its plans to open 50 new stores in North America within 10 years.

MISSISSIPPI

Lockheed Martin Signs Lease

Lockheed Martin is taking 222,000 square feet of space at the Propulsion, Thermal and Metrology Center at the John Stennis Space Center in Hancock County, Miss. Lockheed will produce propulsion systems, such as thrusters used for satellites and other spacecraft produced by Lockheed Martin Space Systems. The Mississippi Development Authority, local governments on the Mississippi Gulf Coast and NASA partnered with Lockheed Martin to build the facility. Lockheed Martin is expected to hire 270 highly skilled people to work at the center.

Alcoa to Expand Hernando Plant

Alcoa is expanding in Hernando, Miss. by investing $16 million at its soft-alloy extrusion plant. Alcoa officials had considered closing the plant and consolidating production to other facilities outside the state.

MISSOURI

Sabreliner Opens New Facility

Sabreliner will open a new facility in Ste. Genevieve, Mo., to overhaul components for the U.S. Air Force's KC-135 aircraft. The KC-135 is used for cargo transport and in-flight refueling. Sabreliner will hire 60 employees at the heavy maintenance facility.

Sports Apparel Company to Open Plant in Missouri

Gear for Sports, a Lenexa-based sports apparel company will open a screen print and embroidery production plant in Chillicothe that will create 100 jobs. Operations at the 50,000-square-foot building will begin in spring 2002. Up to 100 additional jobs could be created within two years. Once it opens, the plant will operate around the clock six days a week. It will be used mainly for screen-printing apparel in the first year and eventually embroidery operations will be added.

McKeeson Medical-Surgical Chooses Kansas City for Distribution

McKeeson Medical-Surgical, a national distributor servicing the health care industry, will locate new distribution operations in 125,000 square feet of leased space in Kansas City. With a capital investment of $8 million, the company will employ 75 initially, growing to 90 employees within three years. McKeeson has 58 distribution centers coast to coast, employing more than 4,000 people nationwide. They stock and distribute more than 150,000 products, representing more than 8,000 manufacturers and serving more than 85,000 customers.

Sprint Moves Into HQ in Kansas City

Sprint Corporation has moved into headquarters on a 200-acre campus in Overland Park. Sprint's new headquarters building is one of 16 office buildings on Sprint's south Overland Park campus. About 9,700 employees work at the campus, and by the end of August, 4,800 more will move there.

Dairy Products Company Opens HQ in Kansas City

Belfonte Ice Cream & Dairy Foods has opened its $4.5 million headquarters on Cleveland Avenue, just a few blocks from its Kansas City production plant. The 50,000-square-foot building includes executive offices and a warehouse with 10 loading docks.

NORTH CAROLINA

Ford to Build Distribution Center in Mebane

Ford Motor Co. is planning a parts distribution center in Mebane, N.C. The facility will be built at the same 1,000-acre industrial park that Mercedes-Benz officials scouted during their site search for the company's first North American automotive assembly plant in 1993. The new facility could be expanded to 900,000 square feet and employ 200 workers.

BASF Expansion at RTP

BASF is investing $22 million at its research facilities in Research Triangle Park. The German chemical company has expanded its Raleigh-Durham facilities three times since 1986 when it established a 35,000-square-foot R&D operation at RTP. The company is expected to hire 100 more employees during the expansion.

Flextronics to Employ 1,500 People in Franklin County

Electronics manufacturer Flextronics is building a 75-acre manufacturing and design complex in Franklin County that will employ 1,500 workers within three years. Employees at the new facility will design, test and manufacture optical communications products. Flextronics provides design, engineering and other assistance to companies including Cisco Systems, Hewlett-Packard, IBM and Nokia.

AW North Carolina Expands Durham Plant

AW North Carolina, a manufacturer of transmission components for Toyota Motor Manufacturing Corp., is spending $160 million to expand its Durham plant. The investment will create 450 new jobs by full operation, which is expected by spring 2004.

Wyleth-Lederle Expanding in Sanford

Wyeth-Lederle, subsidiary to Philadelphia-based American Home Products, completed a 40,000-square-foot addition to its Sanford facility last year, and is again expanding by adding another 115,000 square feet. Currently the pharmaceutical company employs 540 and the expansion will increase workers to 800. The expansion will propel the company from ninth largest to fourth largest biotech employer in North Carolina. A manufacturing portion of the facility makes vaccines that immunize children against bacterial infections. A research and development group is also housed at the site.

Playtex Apparel Moving HQ from Connecticut to Winston-Salem

Playtex Apparel, a unit of Sara Lee Intimate Apparel, is moving its headquarters from Stamford, Conn., to Winston-Salem, where Playtex's Bali Intimates and Hanes Her Way are already based. The move will create 300 jobs in Winston-Salem.

Silicon Wireless Moves to Research Triangle Park

Silicon Wireless, a silicon chip developer for advanced wireless services, has moved from its 9,000- square-foot space on N.C. State's Centennial Campus to a 27,000-square-foot facility in the Keystone Complex in Research Triangle Park. The company could double its current staff of 30 by the end of the year. Silicon Wireless will use the manufacturing facilities of South Portland, Ma.-based Fairchild Semiconductor to mass-produce the chips it designs.

OKLAHOMA

Marietta Chosen for Dollar Tree Stores Distribution Center

Dollar Tree Store will build a 603,000-square-foot distribution center in Marietta on 85 acres. The center will serve the company's southwest distribution needs and will employ 125 workers. The facility will be designed with future expansion in mind and the facility can be later enlarged to encompass 1.2 million square feet.

SOUTH CAROLINA

Honda to Build Watercraft Plant in Timmonsville

Honda Motor Co. has chosen Timmonsville as the site for a plant that will make a new line of personal watercraft. The plant will make the AquaTrax, which will compete with Kawasaki Motor Corporation's Jet Ski and other brands of personal watercraft. The $11 million plant will open by December, adjacent to another Honda plant that makes all-terrain vehicles and engines. Honda has 1,500 employees at the ATV plant and will hire another 150 workers to build the AquaTrax.

Korean Manufacturer Locates HQ in Rock Hill

A Korean textile manufacturer has leased a 67,000-square-foot building in Rock Hill for its North American manufacturing, sales and marketing headquarters. Hyosung Corp. will employ 15 workers initially, with plans to expand. Hysung will use the site as a distribution center for yarns and cords used by the tire industry. A division of Hyosung that makes Creora spandex for the textile industry will also be housed there, along with a line that packages ends of spandex and yarns.

Ryobi Technologies Expands Pickens Operation

Ryobi Technologies has relocated the Homelite string trimmer final assembly, testing and packaging operation from Chihuahua, Mexico to the company's OWT Industries facility in Pickens. Homelite trimmers, blowers and chain saws are marketed by RTI, an Anderson, S.C.-based subsidiary of TechTronic Industries. The new Pickens assembly lines expansion created more than 100 jobs.

Dana Corporation to Build Manufacturing Plant in Orangeburg County

Dana Corporation will build a manufacturing facility in Orange County to support the production of front and rear driving axles for a future BMW vehicle platform. The facility will be located on a 32-acre tract of land in the Orangeburg Industrial Park. When fully operational Dana will employ 200 people at the facility, and have a capital investment of $30 million.

McNaughton Chooses Charleston for Distribution Center

McNaughton Apparel Group has announced it will open a new distribution center in Charleston. This announcement comes 21 months after McNaughton opened its first $13 million, 130-employee distribution center in Charleston. The new center will distribute the company's Miss Erika line of clothing, employing 200 workers. The company is locating its 300,000-square-foot center in Northpoint Park in the city of Hanahan.

Tire Recycling Facility to Open in Manning

Rural Clarendon County got some good news this quarter. East Coast Industrial Services is opening a tire recycling plant that will process used tires into alternative fuels. The company is expected to invest $30 million and hire about 50 workers.

TENNESSEE

UGN, Inc. to Build Facility in Jackson

UGN, Inc., a producer of automotive acoustic, interior trim and thermal management products will build a multi-million dollar production facility for Reiter Ultra Light acoustic products in Jackson. The facility will be the fourth in the U.S. for the company and will be fully operational by fourth quarter 2002, producing parts for future Toyota and Lexus vehicles. Located on 25 acres in the Tiger Jones Technology Park, the 150,000-square-foot building will house 100 workers initially and up to 200 jobs in its third year of operation.

Call Center to Open in Memphis

Braun Research, a data collection, processing and sampling company based in New Jersey has announced plans for a 100-employee call center in Memphis. Braun's clients are mostly research firms including the Gallup Organization and Princeton Survey Research.

Bosch Expands Clarksville Plant

The Clarksville-Montgomery County Industrial Development Board has approved a $22.75 million expansion plan by the Robert Bosch Corp. The expansion will add new products lines and equipment and add 50 employees to the 500-employee automotive parts plant. Bosch supplies GM, Ford, Nissan and Chrysler with parts produced at the facility.

American Greeting Transfers Jobs to Ripley Facility

American Greetings is closing its Corbin, Ky. plant and will transfer 40 jobs to its Ripley facility. The move is part of a 13% reduction in American Greetings' U.S. workers. American Greetings is located in a 145,000-square-foot facility in the Ripley's North Industrial Park and now employs 130 in lithography for greeting cards. The company, based in Cleveland, Ohio, is the world's largest publicly held firm in its field, supplying more than 15,000 greeting card designs to retailers.

Bowater Completing $42 Million Facility in Covington

Bowater will complete construction and begin shipping giant rolls of paper from its new $42 million, 153,000-square-foot plant in Covington this spring. The facility will eventually begin coating rolls of paper and will convert uncoated groundwood paper into coated groundwood grades.

Bridgestone/Firestone Moving Distribution Center

Bridgestone/Firestone is consolidating its distribution operations in the Southeast into a new 750,000-square-foot center in Lebanon, Tenn. The site is located about 15 miles east of Nashville. The tire maker will close its 449,000-square-foot Memphis distribution facility. The new warehouse will employ about 200 workers.

TEXAS

RadioShack Completes Fort Worth HQ Plans

RadioShack, which chose downtown Fort Worth for its headquarters campus, has completed the site plan for its 45-acre site on the Trinity River. The new headquarters will total 900,000 square feet of office space and is expected to be operational by the end of 2004.

JPMorgan Invests in Houston

New York-based JPMorgan Chase & Co. has announced it has chosen Houston for a new technology center that will employ 250 in the central business district. The center will develop technology for the company's global investments. The company currently handles global investment operations domestically in New York. About 150 New York jobs will be eliminated with the Houston transition.

California Company Looks to Relocate to San Antonio

Always Best Chemical Co., a California-based manufacturer of industrial degreasers, is planning to relocate to San Antonio. The 13-year-old company has developed a nontoxic, biodegradable degreasing product that is used in the automotive, restaurant and oil and gas industries.

Healthcare Investments made in Round Rock

St. David's Healthcare Partnership will invest $25 million in the Round Rock Medical Center to expand surgery and intensive care facilities as well as build a cardiac catheterization and vascular lab. The project will add 28,000 square feet to the hospital and add 84 new jobs.

Watson-Sysco to Expand in Lubbock

Watson-Sysco Food Service has begun construction on a $10 million, 76,000-square-foot refrigerated warehouse in Lubbock. Watson-Sysco is a marketer and distributor of food service products. The expansion will create more than 100 jobs.

Dupont Improves Round Rock Facility

DuPont Photomasks, a producer of photomask and reticle technology, recently improved its Round Rock facility, investing $27 million in advanced technology tools, and adding 10 workers. The new tools put DuPont at the forefront of the microminiaturization of computer chips. This makes devices as powerful and small as possible, facilitating the use of handheld and other portable electronic applications.

Bridgestone/Firestone to Open Distribution Center in Roanoke

Bridgestone/Firestone has begun construction on a $50 million, 605,000-square-foot distribution center in Roanoke. The company's new center will distribute Bridgestone, Firestone, Dayton and other private brand tires. Once completed in fall 2002, the center will employ 200 people.

DataSource Opens San Marcos Call Center

DataSource Inc. is opening a call center in San Marcos that will employ 200 people within a year. The company, an Austin-based survey research company, has located a new 10,000-square-foot facility near the campus of Southwest Texas State University. Most employees will be college students. DataSource conducts telephone interviews for clients on topics including travel behavior, health care, the environment and education. Its clients include the U.S. Postal Service, the Environmental Protection Agency, Princeton University, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board and the Texas Department of Transportation. The San Marcos facility is DataSource's third call center. The other two are located in El Paso and Northridge, Calif.

VIRGINIA

Eli Lilly Building Plant in Prince William County

Eli Lilly is spending as much as $1 billion and hiring as many as 800 employees for a pharmaceutical plant in Prince William County. Lilly chose Virginia over North Carolina and South Carolina for the plant.

"Shadow Government" Looking for Space Near Dulles

A number of federal agencies believed to be the so-called "shadow government" are searching for space for a variety of operations, including data centers and back up facilities. The search is being done outside of Washington near the Dulles International Airport. The site was chosen in case of a major terrorist attack on downtown Washington. Departments of the Treasury, Commerce, Transportation, Defense and other security-related departments as well as the White House are involved in the search. Already, some agencies have leased space outside of Washington. The CIA took data center space in Reston, Va., and has other buildings outside of Washington under construction. Recently, the State Department leased space in Loudoun County. There are other shadow government sites left over from the Cold War, including Dick Cheney's hideout in rural Maryland.

Target Building Import Warehouse in Suffolk

Gov. Mark Warner approved an incentive package in April for Target's newest warehouse and distribution facility. The company is investing $65 million to build an East Coast import warehouse in Suffolk that will total 1.5 million square feet. The company expects to employ up to 500 at the facility, which will serve about half of Target's 14 distribution facilities in the eastern U.S.

Rubbermaid Adds 250 Workers in Winchester

Rubbermaid Commercial Products (RCP) is investing $45 million in personnel and equipment at its plant and offices in Winchester. The company will add 250 employees. RCP makes and sells industrial and commercial waste and recycling containers, cleaning equipment, food storage, serving and transporting containers, outdoor play systems and home health care products.

Roanoke Centre for Industry and Technology Gains Tenant

Virginia Utility Protection Services, a technical service center providing information about underground utility lines to companies and individuals before they dig, has leased space in the Roanoke Centre for Industry and Technology, creating 75 jobs. They will invest $4 million and occupy 16,000 square feet of space at the center.

Frito-Lay Spends $30 Million in Lynchburg

Frito-Lay will spend $30 million to expand its plant in Lynchburg. This is the second major expansion on the property in less than a year. With the expansion, Frito-Lay will be able to add two product lines, one of which will be its new product Tostitos Scoops.

Keystone Dyeing and Finishing Comes to Virginia from New York

Textile manufacturer Keystone Dyeing and Finishing will relocate its manufacturing plant to Gordonsville from New York this spring, creating 125 new jobs. Workers at the facility will provide custom dyeing and finishing services, distribution and support.

Boeing Opens Office in McLean

Boeing will open an air traffic management division office in McLean. The Chicago-based company recently created the division to help design a new air traffic control system and has been working with about 40 other companies and the Federal Aviation Administration. The new office will provide 100 new jobs to Fairfax County.

INIT Innovations in Transportation Expands in Chesapeake

INIT Innovations in Transportations, the American subsidiary of German based INIT Ag, will expand its U.S. headquarters in Chesapeake. Due to growth in the Intelligent Transportation Systems field, INIT is expanding to the Crossways II building in the Greenbrier area of Chesapeake. The new facility has 9,000 square feet of space and consists of offices and a test lab to develop sophisticated ITS solutions for its customers. ITS is the division that produces high-tech products and services that help transit authorities operate more efficiently. INIT will hire 34 new employees over two years. INIT currently employs a workforce of 16 including software and hardware engineers.

Unilever Bestfoods Spends $15 Million on Suffolk Expansion

Unilever Bestfoods, the maker of Lipton tea, has begun a $15 million expansion on its West Washington Street facility in Suffolk. The expansion, expected to be complete by 2004, will create 65 new jobs.

Herndon Gains Technology Company

Centrivity, a start-up technology company, has invested $3 million to locate its operations in Herndon. Initially employing 40 people, the company expects to hire 300 over the next three years. Centrivity offers businesses access to a private network, business applications, Internet access and other network services.

Expansion Creates 180 Jobs in Richmond Area

Danaher Power Solutions, a leading designer and manufacturer of power quality and reliability products, is expanding its facilities in the Eastport Business Park in Henrico County. The company will hire 180 employees.

WEST VIRGINIA

Toyota Expands, Adds Suppliers

Several suppliers to Toyota toured sites in West Virginia in April. The companies are expected to supply Toyota's expanding engine plant in Putnam County. Over 1,000 employees are expected to be working at the engine plant by the end of the year. In February, Diamond Electric became the first automotive supplier in the state to announce it would supply the Toyota plant. The Japanese company, which produces ignition coils, is expected to add 30 jobs.

Excel Homes Opens Facility

The largest residential off-site construction builder in the eastern U.S. has built a 92,000-square-foot facility in Charleston that will create 300 jobs. The facility is expected to build more than 20 new homes per week once it becomes fully operational.

BB&T Adds 200 Jobs in Charleston

In April, BB&T announced its intentions to hire 200 more employees at its Charleston operations center. The financial holding company, with over 1,000 bank branches in several Southern states, is investing $13 million into the new processing facility.