Tuscaloosa AL, July 22--A German flooring company is close to making a $300 million to $400 million investment in Alabama, and at least two other manufacturers may decide soon to build in the state, Gov. Bob Riley said Thursday during his job-hunting trip to Europe, according to the Tuscaloosa Alabama News.
Kronospan, a Dresden-based laminate floormaker and parent of Kronotex USA, will send a team of executives to Alabama to learn more about its environmental permitting process and to learn more about the two cities it's targeting, Oxford and Fort Payne, Riley said in a teleconference from Heidelberg, Germany.
"It has not been consummated yet, but I am honestly very optimistic that it will be located in Alabama," Riley said of the plant, which would create 500 to 600 jobs.
Before leaving for the trip, Riley said he had hoped to close deals with one or two companies to build manufacturing plants in Alabama. He said Thursday that a second company likely would announce Friday that it was building a plant in Pell City that would employ 80 to 100 workers.
