It’s only fitting — 252 jobs to the 252.
Alside Window Company will be adding 252 jobs at its Kinston manufacturing facility, according to an announcement made by the Governor’s Office. The jobs and a total investment of $5 million are expected over the next five years.
“We are investing in people, training, new equipment and manufacturing capabilities now through the next five years,” said Ondrea Joyner, senior human resources manager for Alside parent company Associated Materials Inc., in a statement. “We appreciate the commitment from Lenoir County and the N.C. community colleges to assist with our expansion.”
The facility off Airport Road — first established in 1988 — is one of seven Alside manufacturing centers in the country, and the only one in North Carolina. The center is responsible for the manufacture of metal patio doors.
The state Department of Commerce estimates its annual sales to be $1-2.5 million.
“We started working with them — it’s probably been about five or six months ago,” Lenoir County Economic Development Executive Director Mark Pope said. “We started working with them on potential expansion, and what they were looking at doing at some of their facilities.
“We were fortunate enough to be able to put the right foot forward, and the community college program really helped us a lot with their training needs.”
Part of what’s happening is turning contract workers into full-time employees with benefits. Pope said the officials at Alside believe it will help lower turnover and lead to a better product.
Assisting in the expansion were the state Department of Commerce, the state community college system, Lenoir County and the City of Kinston.
Pope said the link between education, job training and economic opportunity is part of an effort to build a quality labor pool and retain local talent.
“We can better train our youth to be in that job pool to go in these positions, and retain them in Lenoir County,” Pope said. “So, that’s very important to me and important to all of us in the community, is being able to keep our youth here. They go to school here, they go to college close by, and they should be able to come back and get good-paying jobs.”
Alside currently employs 540 people in North Carolina.
Wes Wolfe can be reached at 252-559-1075 and Wes.Wolfe@Kinston.com. Follow him on Twitter @WolfeReports.
