Buffet equipment manufacturer to add warehouse, 45 jobs over 3 years

By DAN MURTAUGH

Mobile Register Staff Reporter

6/10/04

FAIRHOPE   The owner of a Point Clear based food service equipment manufacturer announced Wednesday that the company will double its work force by adding 45 jobs over the next three years.

Buffet Enhancements International, which makes more than 200 products for casino and resort hotels to use at their buffets, also will build a 20,000 square foot warehouse at its 10 acre site on Wagoner Road, owner Jay Harlan said.

Harlan said he is investing about $300,000 in the expansion.

Harlan said about 80 percent of the jobs will be in manufacturing with the remainder as administrative and sales positions. Some employees make more than $100,000 a year, while manufacturing jobs pay between $10 and $15 an hour, he said.

"This is a perfect example of a small community working with a niche business," said Ed Bishop, a Baldwin County commissioner who represents the Fairhope area. "We're creating jobs that pay more than minimum wage, we're not damaging the environment, and we're doing it right here. These are the kind of jobs we need."

The announcement comes after the company, which has been in existence since 1990, more than doubled its work force in the past four months by adding 25 employees, for a total of 45, Harlan said.

Instrumental in the company's recent growth has been the county's help in paving Wagoner Road, which only happened after Bishop came aboard the commission 1 Y2 years ago, Harlan said.

"You can imagine what Baldwin County rain and six semis do to a dirt road," Harlan said.

At the Wednesday gathering, Harlan displayed one of the company's signature items, a liquid chocolate fountain. The item, which sells for $2,700 to $4,000 depending on size, has chocolate cascading down its sides, allowing people to dip strawberries and other foods into it.

Harlan said his company's fountain has stood up to worldwide competition.  "Our product has already been knocked off by the Chinese ... but we still make it better and cheaper," Harlan said. "The workers of Baldwin County have proved themselves to be the best in the world."