By David Atchison
The Daily Home
The Daily Home- PELL CITY – The St. Clair County Economic Development Council announced Wednesday that Eissmann Automotive North America Inc. will expand operations for the second time within a one-year period.
“Eissmann is a solid, family-owned company that has outperformed even our greatest expectations in Pell City,” said Don Smith, executive director for the St. Clair County EDC. “They pride themselves on the highest quality craftsmanship in the industry, which is a perfect fit for the high-end automotive customers that they serve. They have incredible leadership in management at their Pell City facility, and we look forward to working with them on future expansions.”
Smith said the local German company is planning a $3.75 million expansion, which will create 35 jobs.
Eissmann employs about 215 associates at its Pell City plant.
“Eissmann is currently a significant employer in Pell City, and we are excited to see them continue to grow in our community,” Mayor Bill Hereford said. “We are very fortunate that they chose our community as their North American headquarters, and we hope they will continue to expand here.”
The expansion includes a 15,000 square foot addition to the existing building, which is actually owned by ADCON LLC, which leases the facility to Eissmann. The 100 by 150 foot addition will bring the square footage of the facility to 89,000.
According to a tax abatement request approved by the Pell City Industrial Development Board Tuesday night, the construction will cost about $750,000. Eissmann will invest another $3 million for equipment.
According to the application, the expansion will create another $1 million annually in payroll dollars. The expansion is also expected to pump about $278,000 into the school system through educational taxes, but save the company about $300,000 in abated city and county taxes during the next 10 years.
The abatement is only valid if the company completes its expansion plans.
Just 10 months ago, Eissmann announced another 15,000 square foot expansion that created an additional 40 jobs. In that expansion, the company spent about $2 million for equipment and about $750,000 for construction, which was completed in August 2011.
“We are always excited to see our existing industries continue to expand in St. Clair County,” County Commission Chairman Stan Batemon said. “The creation of new jobs in our county allows our citizens to work closer to home and improves their quality of life. Eissmann is a tremendous community partner, and we look forward to growing with them in the future.”
Eissmann, founded in 1964, opened its North American plant in Pell City in 2005. The company produces more than 51,000 different interior parts for automobiles and has operations worldwide.
The company specializes in leather automobile dashboards.
Eissmann currently supplies interior automotive products to car manufacturers, including Volkswagen, Audi, Porsche, Bentley, Mercedes and Jeep Grand Cherokee.