Welcome to HickoryRecord.com. Skip directly to: our Keyword Search, Section Navigation, Content.

HickoryRecord.com - Hickory Daily Record

HomeNewsEntertainmentSportsLifestylesOpinionCommunityWeather Online Tools Jobs | Real Estate | Shopping | Classified

128 jobs coming to Alexander County

Mississippi-based furniture company to renovate former Broyhill plant.

By John Dayberry | Hickory Daily Record

Published: September 12, 2009

TAYLORSVILLE - An upholstered furniture manufacturer and casegoods importer will invest $1.4 million in a plant here, creating 128 jobs during the next three years.

Mississippi-based Caye Home Furnishings will begin renovating a 200,000-square-foot plant on N.C. 90 — formerly a Broyhill facility — next week, and expects to be shipping by the end of September, said Wayne Stewart, Caye's chief financial officer.

Hiring is being done through the N.C. Employment Security Commission. The Alexander County office is at 606 Seventh St., SW, and can be reached at 632-4631.

Caye Home Furnishings makes living room furniture and casegoods including products marketed under the Stratford and Stratolounger name brands. The company has manufacturing facilities in Mississippi, Florida and China.

The company purchased an 80,000-square-foot plant in Star, south of Greensboro, a year ago. The Star plant has been running over capacity for months, Stewart said.

Caye officials said the company has experienced significant growth in the Northeast region of the United States, and the new Taylorsville plant will assemble furniture to serve that market.

The new jobs will pay an average annual wage of $30,142, not including benefits, which is higher than Alexander County's average annual wage of $27,300.

"Our Caye team is excited about the opportunity to expand our North Carolina operations," said Karl Leo, Caye's chairman of the board.

The Taylorsville plant is made possible in part by a $250,000 grant from the One North Carolina Fund.

The fund provides financial assistance through local governments to attract business projects that will stimulate economic activity and create new jobs in the state.

Companies receive no money up front and must meet job creation and investment performance standards to qualify for grant funds. The grants require and are contingent upon local matches.

"Alexander County welcomes Caye Home Furnishings' $1.4 million investment and the 128 jobs it will create," said Rep. Ray Warren (D-Alexander, Catawba).

"We look forward to a mutually beneficial partnership that will help position our state well when the global economy turns around."