Distribution center to open in Loxley

Company plans on having 125 workers in three years

Thursday, September 09, 2004

By Guy Busby

Staff Reporter

LOXLEY -- Dade Paper plans to open a distribution facility in Loxley that will employ 125 workers within three years, company representatives and area officials said Wednesday.

The Miami-based company distributes paper, plastic, foam and janitorial supplies. It will combine the offices of Paper Products Inc. of Mobile and Baldwin Paper of Foley in the new distribution center to be located on Baldwin County 49 in Loxley.

Dade Paper bought Paper Products, which owns the Mobile and Foley operations, for an undisclosed amount, Dade officials said.

Employees in the two plants to be closed will work in Loxley starting in October. Dade officials also plan to expand operations, adding more employees and an expanded service area, said Bob Worch, who will be Dade's branch manager of the Baldwin facility.

The Loxley center, with nearby access to Interstates 10 and 65, will allow Dade to serve the area between New Orleans, Montgomery and Panama City, Fla., said Worch.

"We decided to have a location in the Mobile area," he said at the announcement made Wednesday at Loxley Town Hall. "What made Baldwin County and particularly Loxley our choice was the dynamic growth in the area."

The company has immediate plans to add four employees to the number of workers from Paper Products and Baldwin Paper, Worch said, bringing the total at the Loxley plant to 44, Worch said.

The company plans to expand operations in south Alabama in the next three years to about 125 workers, Worch said. The total payroll in three years will be about $4 million, he said.

Pay for entry-level ware house employees will start at about $7.50 an hour and increase depending on workers' levels of experience, Worch said.

William McRaney, the owner of Paper Products, will continue working with the new company as Dade's division manager. He said Dade's resources and products will allow the company to expand and serve a wider area.

"They will grow in this community and Loxley will benefit and you all will be proud of Dade Paper and they will be an asset to the community," McRaney said.

The company will lease a 60,000-square-foot building from Euromex.

Loxley Mayor Billy Middleton said local officials were pleased that the town had been chosen for another distribution center. Loxley is also the site of the Ace Hardware Distribution Center.

"We're always looking for good, clean businesses and this fits our bill," Middleton said.

Town and state officials worked with the Baldwin County Economic Development Alliance to bring Dade to Loxley, according to officials at the announcement.