Friday March 29th, 2024 11:49AM

Carpet manufacturer planning expansion in Georgia

By The Associated Press
ADAIRSVILLE, Ga. (AP) -- A carpet manufacturing company is planning to add 500 new jobs in northwest Georgia as part of a multimillion-dollar expansion effort, state officials announced Thursday.

Shaw Industries Group. Inc. is expecting to invest $85 million to build a carpet tile facility in Adairsville - which is about 20 miles northeast of Rome, Gov. Nathan Deal said in a release.

Construction on the facility is expected to begin in 2014, and the plant will sit on a more than 117-acre plot of land, Deal said. The facility is expected to be between 600,000 and 700,000 square feet and contain manufacturing and warehouse space.

"The steady comeback of the floor-covering industry in North Georgia continues to reflect the resurgence of the global economy," Deal said.

Shaw Industries Group is Bartow County's largest employer and currently operates six facilities there, according to state economic development officials. They said the company employs about 15,000 people in Georgia.

"We have expanded our existing Cartersville carpet tile facility to its maximum so the Adairsville plant will allow for continued long-term growth in this important product segment," Shaw Chairman and CEO Vance Bell said in a statement, adding that the company is also looking to build a new carpet tile plant in China to serve its Asian market.

Adairsville Mayor Evan King said Shaw's investment in the city will have an economic impact that will reverberate throughout the region. Adairsville was struck by an EF3 tornado in late January. State insurance officials said the twister caused an estimated $75 million in damage and decimated a steel manufacturing facility.

"We couldn't be more pleased to see this aggressive growth from one of Georgia's top corporate citizens," Georgia Department of Economic Development Commissioner Chris Cummiskey said in a statement. "Shaw has played an important part in establishing Georgia as a global leader in the floor covering industry."
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