Vaughan-Bassett Expanding Again

May 31, 2010  by in UnCategorized   

By Home Furnishings Business in Bedroom on June 1, 2010

Bedroom furniture manufacturer Vaughan-Bassett Furniture Co., announced on Tuesday that it will invest $1 million in a four-phase expansion of its headquarters plant in Galax, Va.

"The largest and most expensive phase of the expansion is a new 16,000-square-foot building that will be attached to our shipping facility," said President and CEO Wyatt Bassett during an announcement in front of more than 500 workers from the company's day shift. "This building will be used to store bed rails and mirrors and for the staging of shipments from our shipping facility."

Vaughan-Bassett broke ground on the project in May and expects to complete the building by December of this year. Clark Brothers Company Stuart, Va., is the construction firm hired to complete the new building.

The other three phases of this expansion are: relocation of the two bed Lines from the machine room to the pack room, which was completed in May; reorganization of machinery within the machine room, utilizing the 8,000 square feet opened up by moving the bed lines (to be completed in July); and relocation of two administrative offices and a bathroom to open up a fork lift aisle to move parts from the machine room to the new bed lines (completed in May).

Bassett said this latest expansion is needed because of the success of Vaughan-Bassett's new $3 million Weinig Rough End System, which was installed in July of 2009 as part of a major addition to the Galax furniture factory.

"We have been able to cut significantly more lumber and we are generating many more parts with our new system," he said. "This growth has led to 60 new jobs in our Galax factory since spring of 2009. We need the additional space to create room for the jobs we intend to add in coming months and years."

He added that Vaughan-Bassett reopened a portion of its Elkin furniture plant in September of 2009 and now employs more than 50 people in its Elkin facilities.

Doug Bassett, executive vice president and COO, told the gathering that Congressman Rick Boucher was instrumental in making Vaughan-Bassett's expansion possible.

"Rick Boucher is the American furniture worker€™s best friend in Washington," he said. "He stood with us when we fought illegal dumping by China, and he helped pass an accelerated depreciation provision that helped make our new Rough End possible. Congressman Rick Boucher has had our back in Washington and he deserves to be on this stage today and to be a part of our announcing our latest growth plans."

Founded in 1919, Vaughan-Bassett had 2009 sales of more than $85 million and employs more than 700 workers in its factories in Galax, Va., and Elkin, N.C. The company says it produces more than 97 percent of all its products.