Some 58 jobs are coming to Mocksville, as a privately-owned Washington State company is expanding.
Pro Refrigeration will hire all employees with the exception of a few locally, as it is not moving, but expanding. The company already had several customers on the East Coast, including Foothills Brewing in Winston-Salem, said Terry Bralley, president of the Davie County Economic Development Commission.
The company spent a year looking for a site on the East Coast, and will move into the former Crown Wood Building at Bethel Church and John Crotts roads.
It is taking applications for workers, including manufacturing engineers and technicians, refrigeration technicians, welders, stock personnel, an electrical assembler, supervisor and administrative assistant. Employment applications are available from the company’s website at prochiller.com.
Over the past 22 years, the company has grown to be a leading manufacturer of process glycol chiller systems for dairy, craft brewery, winery, distillery and food processing industries. It employs more than 50 people in Auburn, Wash. “We’ve tripled production over the past three years,” said Pro CEO Jim VanderGiessen Jr. “We had to either expand in Washington State, or find an additional location to provide the increased capacity to serve current customers and targeted markets.”
Several customers in the craft brewing industry expanding to the East Coast helped drive the decision, he said.
The company plans to create 58 jobs and invest $3.6 million over the next three years. The project was made possible in part by a performance-based grant from the One North Carolina Fund, contingent upon proof of job creation and a local funding match.
The company likes the idea of re-purposing the old Crown Wood building. It plans to take possession of the building on March 1, and ramp up to full production by year’s end.
“Pro has a great deal riding on this expansion, it is one of the biggest moves we’ve undertaken,” VanderGiessen said. “Some reasons we chose Davie were the skilled workforce, business friendly environment, and amazing support we’ve received from everyone. Special credit needs to be given to Bernard Torain, N.C. Department of Commerce, and Terry Bralley … who backed up everything they said with hard work and follow through,” he said …