400-job Whitehall expansion still on the table for Ashley

0 Comments | La Crosse Tribune, Feb 25, 2006 | by Cahalan, Steve

WHITEHALL, Wis. Ashley Furniture industries Inc. may expand its Whitehall plant this year and add about 400 jobs there, city officials said Friday.

Ashley Chairman Ron Wanek said later that expanding the company's Whitehall plant "is a consideration. But it isn't a definite expansion plan. We are looking at possibly putting this (expansion) in North Carolina or South Carolina."

Wanek said his company, based in Arcadia, Wis., will choose a location "in the next several weeks."

The Whitehall City Council has agreed to create a tax incremental financing district to pay for infrastructure improvements if the expansion is in that community, City Administrator Lynn Johnson said Friday. That includes such work as improvements to the intersection of Hwy. 121 and Cenex Drive, storm sewer construction and additional electric service.

"This isn't 100 percent definite," Johnson said of the Ashley expansion. Some details still have to be worked out, he said.

Mayor Rod Moen said he is optimistic the expansion will occur in Whitehall. Ashley officials are talking about adding more than 200,000 square feet to their 74,000-square-foot Whitehall furniture factory, he said: The addition and equipment are expected to cost about $8 million.

The plant now has about 350 employees, Johnson said.

Moen said construction could begin this spring, and be completed this fall.

Moen and Johnson have been meeting with Ashley officials for several months.

"When you're a small community such as we are, this is very, very positive," Moen said.

"Anytime you can bring more jobs to your community and state, that's a plus," said state Rep. Barbara Gronemus, D-Whitehall.

"It not only means there would be more new jobs in the Whitehall area, but you add on to that the possibility of a need for more homes, and businesses begin to grow."

Ashley expects to complete a $14 million expansion of its Arcadia facilities this summer. Work is under way on that expansion, which is expected to create about 290 jobs.

Ashley has about 14,000 employees worldwide, including more than 3,500 at its operations in Arcadia, Whitehall and Independence, Wis.