Georgia And North Carolina Vie For New Pergo Facil

Garner, NC, April 21--Industrial recruiters in Georgia and North Carolina are competing for a $36 million Pergo expansion, according to the Raleigh News Observer. The paper said that if North Carolina wins, the facility would be added at Pergo's manufacturing and distribution facility in Garner's Greenfield Business Park. If Georgia is selected new facilities would go up in Kennesaw, Georgia, which is the site of Witex. Earlier this year, HW Industries, the main stockholder of Witex, signed an agreement that would see Pergo, which currently owns 25.1% of Witex, acquire all Witex shares owned by HW Industries in a share issue and a cash deal worth six million euros. After the transaction, HW Industries will own 20% of Pergo’s shares and become its largest shareholder. Bill Hodges, Pergo’ CFO said in the newspaper, that both locations of the proposed new facility have offered incentives. The newspaper attributed Mary Lou Todd, Garner's town manager, as saying the expansion would include a $10 million plant and $26 million in machinery and equipment. She said, in the article, that the town would match a $100,000 state grant if the expansion is done in Garner. Pergo also would be eligible for investment and job creation tax credits from the state of North Carolina. Kevin Langston, a spokesman for Georgia's Department of Industry, Trade and Tourism, declined to detail the incentives the state is offering but said they typically include tax credits and land. He said Witex operates an 80,000-square-foot plant with fewer than 50 employees at its plant outside Atlanta. The Garner plant includes a 153,000 square foot manufacturing building and an 180,000 square foot warehouse on about 100 acres. In all, Pergo has 210 employees, including its Raleigh headquarters and the Garner manufacturing operations. The company also has a sales staff of about 45 nationwide. Hodges said Pergo might decide not to go ahead with the expansion. But the company is considering the expansion to consolidate manufacturing. The newspaper said the expansion would allow the company to produce domestically the high-density fiberboard used in laminate. Presently it is imported.