Auto supplier plans to begin shipping parts by summer
04/16/04
Mitchell Plastics, a division of Canadian-based Ultra Manufacturing Ltd., will open its first U.S. manufacturing plant in Huntsville, with plans to start shipping parts to the automotive industry by July.
About 65 people will be hired at first, said Mitchell president Joe D'Angelo. He expects the number of employees to increase within a year, but declined to give a specific number.
Plant jobs will pay between $8 and $10 per hour to start.
"We want to grow slowly in a controlled fashion," he said. "That's what we have done with other facilities" to assure the company's long-term success. "Our commitment to Huntsville is going to be long-term."
Two managers will come from current Mitchell facilities in Kitchener and Waterloo, Ontario, D'Angelo said. Doug Broughton will be the Huntsville plant's production manager, and William Woods will be the quality control manager.
Mitchell's vice president of sales and marketing, Peter Gibb, took part in ceremonies Thursday at the Huntsville/Madison County Chamber of Commerce to announce the company's move here.
Mitchell will make, assemble and paint interior parts for the automotive industry in the 110,000-square-foot facility in Chase Industrial Park, once occupied by Swiss-owned Bruderer Inc. Bruderer closed in December 2002.
"I visited every single town from Bowling Green, Ky., to Huntsville" in the search for a new plant, said D'Angelo, "and I was so impressed with Huntsville."
He said the community, which reminds him of Kitchener and Waterloo, was attractive because of its solid industrial base and skilled, available work force.
The city of Huntsville, the Madison County Commission, the chamber, the state's Industrial Development Training Institute and Employment Service, the North Alabama Industrial Development Association and the Tennessee Valley Industrial Development Authority were all involved in recruiting Mitchell.
"We look forward to a long, prosperous relationship" with the company, said Brad Jones, vice chairman for economic development for the chamber. Jones noted that Mitchell has invested about $6.5 million in equipment and building modifications and upgrades.
Mike Gillespie, chairman of the County Commission, said Mitchell is "exactly the type employer envisioned when the commission developed Chase Industrial Park years ago."
Another Canada-based automotive supplier, Matsu Alabama, announced last year it would move into the former Hitachi Seiki building in Lowe Industrial Park. Matsu makes metal stampings and welded assemblies for the automotive market.
The Huntsville/Madison County area provides companies an innovative and entrepreneurial environment for growth, said Huntsville Mayor Loretta Spencer. "Mitchell Plastics and other new employers such as Matsu Alabama ... contribute tremendously to that entrepreneurial spirit."