08/01/03
By MARIAN ACCARDI
Times Business Writer accardi@htimes.com
The president of a Canadian-based manufacturer said that Huntsville was selected as the location for its newest plant because the community offered the best pool of labor and a high standard of living.
The area "met and exceeded our expectations," said Art Artuso, president and chief executive officer of Matcor Automotive Inc., which is based outside Toronto. Matsu Alabama Inc. will be one of the manufacturing plants operated by Matcor and Matsu Manufacturing Inc.
The Huntsville plant will specialize in stamping metal products for the automotive market. At full production, it will employ "over 125" people, Artuso said at a news conference Thursday afternoon at the Huntsville/Madison County Chamber of Commerce. Production at the plant at Lowe Industrial Park is expected to start by next July, Artuso said.
"Typically in business, we have to deal with a lot of red tape," Artuso said. "Alabama and Huntsville have kept their promise to eliminate red tape and gave us, instead of red tape, the royal carpet treatment."
The company is renovating the old Hitachi Seiki plant in the industrial park, which takes in about 80,000 square feet, and is adding on an extra 40,000 square feet.
"Thank you for your confidence and the investment you're making here," said Huntsville Mayor Loretta Spencer.
Artuso said the company's investment here would be around $25 million.
Madison County Commission Chairman Mike Gillespie told Artuso he's looking forward to a "continued, long-standing, fruitful relationship for all of us."
The plant will serve original-equipment manufacturers in the Southeast and other so-called tier one manufacturers.
The Matcor group of companies, which has about 1,000 employees in all, has seven facilities in Canada and one in Independence, Kan.
"We're extremely proud to be represented in the state of Alabama," Artuso said.
