Injection molder CK Technologies LLC will invest $19 million in a new plant in Mount Airy, N.C., to make parts for commercial trucks and buses. The project will begin with a paint and assembly line, and the company plans to expand into molding within the next three years.
Montpelier, Ohio-based CKT expects to begin construction on the 50-employee, 165,000-square-foot facility by October and open production in July, said marketing manager Jack Arb in a July 28 telephone interview.
If business continues as expected, CKT will launch an expansion by 2009 that will add in-house molding on two presses.
CKT also expects to add 25 employees to its workforce of 128 in Montpelier next year.
CKT is a joint venture created in 2002 by Grand Rapids, Mich.-based Cascade Engineering Inc. and Tim Kline, the one-time plant manager in Montpelier. It said it expects to post $41 million in sales this year, up from $29 million in 2004.
``The added volume of business being launched by CKT in the next three years will benefit both Montpelier as well as our new location,'' Kline said.
The new site in Mount Airy is CKT's second factory and will allow it better access to its customers in the Southeast. Volvo Trucks North America Inc. has a production site in Dublin, Va., while Freightliner LLC has several factories in the region, including in Cleveland, N.C., Arb said.
The business turns out a variety of parts such as engine covers, fender extensions, grille assemblies, consoles and parking- brake shrouds on its fleet of 10 presses, which have clamping forces of 1,000-5,000 tons.
The company expects to have an average weekly wage of $540 plus benefits, topping the Surry County average of $522, according to state officials. The state's One North Carolina Fund is contributing $150,000 toward the CKT project.