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Cheng touts 80 jobs, $1.15 million expansion brought by PPI/Time Zero [The News Virginian, Waynesboro, Va.](News Virginian (Waynesboro) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) July 27--After a five month job search, Fred Batten is thankful for his new job with PPI/Time Zero. When Genicom, a subsidiary of Waynesboro-based General Electric, went bankrupt, Batten left his manufacturing expertise behind to pursue jobs in tech support. Two decades later, Paterson, N.J.-based PPI/Time Zero expanded into the former General Electric campus, bringing 60 to 80 jobs that included Batten. "This means more high-paying manufacturing jobs and will position the community to attract more high tech industries," Virginia Secretary of Commerce and Trade Jim Cheng said at a grand opening ceremony for the company Tuesday. In March, CEO Dana Pittman announced plans for a $1.15 million expansion of the electronics manufacturing company into the building where his own career began 30 years ago with General Electric. Pittman was also vice-president of operations for Genicom Electric and managed businesses in 20 states. Minimal incentives were needed to entice the company, which makes specialized electronic components for the U.S. Department of Defense, IBM, General Electric and others, state and local officials said. The company will receive a rebate on its building permit and the first few years of machinery and tools taxes, said Economic Development Director Greg Hitchin. It will also receive help from the Virginia Department of Business Assistance, which could come in the form of a direct payment or logistical support for employee training, said Robin Sullenberger, CEO of the Shenandoah Valley Partnership. Pittman said the move will enable the company to expand its service to clients based in the mid-Atlantic and south. "All of our new growth is going to take place here," Pittman said at the grand opening. "We're going to hold our New Jersey facility flat." He said Waynesboro's quality of life also factored into the decision and touted the city's good schools, affordable housing, skilled labor force and access to the mountains. State and regional officials said the company is the type of business that will likely feature prominently in the city's economic revitalization. Many of the jobs, which are highly technical and require a background in engineering, will be for workers within a half-hour of Waynesboro, Economic Development Director Hitchin said. The company is a "primary industry" that an economic development consultant recently identified for Waynesboro as a large outfit that infuses cash into a community and is vital to sustaining a healthy local economy, officials said. The business plans to use just shy of 14,000 square feet inside Solutions Place, owned by Allied Logistics, off Hopeman Parkway, said Rebecca Polan, director of Solutions Way Management. Polan said she expects Solutions Place's close relationship with Reo Logistics to offer a strategic advantage to the company. Within the space, the company will make products used by the Department of Homeland Security, components necessary to maintaining the health of commercial and fighter airplanes and rescue helicopters and unmanned drones for the Department of Defense. Hitchin said he hopes the company's expansion into Waynesboro will better position the city to recruit more advanced manufacturing businesses. ___ To see more of The News Virginian or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.newsvirginian.com. Copyright (c) 2011, The News Virginian, Waynesboro, Va. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For more information about the content services offered by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services (MCT), visit www.mctinfoservices.com, e-mail [email protected], or call 866-280-5210 (outside the United States, call +1 312-222-4544) |