TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Tampa Mattress Company Opening Plant In Oklahoma

ADVERTISEMENT

The Associated Press

Published: February 13, 2009

DURANT, Okla. - A Tampa mattress manufacturing company said today it plans to open a plant that officials said eventually will create 300 jobs in Oklahoma.

Officials from Spring Air Co., along with Durant and Oklahoma officials, including Lt. Gov. Jari Askins, announced the plant's opening in the southeastern Oklahoma town of about 15,000 people.

The 351,000-square-foot plant, which had been shuttered, is in the Durant Industrial Park and should be operational by this summer. It will be Spring Air's largest manufacturing facility in the United States.

"We've got the building ready to go and all the infrastructure," Tommy Kramer, the city's economic development director, told The Associated Press. "We're pro-business. We're out here wanting to attract national manufacturers. What we do is create good-paying jobs for rural Oklahoma citizens.

"In this economy, this is a big deal."

Steve Cumbow, the chief executive officer for Spring Air, said the plant will employ about 100 people initially, with that number rising to about 300 over a 10-year period.

"We will relocated some experienced workers, but we will try to hire as much as we can locally," Cumbow said.

He said Spring Air's products typically are sold for between $300 and $1,000 per set, and "the market is coming down to the price range that we are very comfortable in."

Cumbow said the company selected Durant for its access to major highways that will help it to service its growing customer base in the Midwest.

"Having a plant in Oklahoma is much more central. We can do some different things here," Cumbow said. "It's got great shipping routes. It's almost exactly in the heart of the country."

Kramer said the city first learned of the opportunity to lure the plant of an anonymous company about four to five months ago. He said city officials didn't learn of the company's identity until about a month ago.

"It's been an extremely fast track," Kramer said.

City officials made two visits to Tampa to encourage the company to locate its plant in Durant.

"They are very aggressive and doing what they can for their community," Cumbow said.

Askins praised the announcement as a "direct result of teamwork and cooperation between industry and government leaders. It is another example of successful economic development and a sign of greater opportunity for rural Oklahoma."

Spring Air said it has more than 650 employees in nine company-owned locations in the U.S. and three domestic and 20 international licensee facilities with about 1,220 employees.

The company's consumer brands include Back Supporter Classic, Back Supporter Four Seasons, Nature's Rest, Ironman and Chattam & Wells.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT