Mayor says furniture factory will bring first new jobs to Calhoun City in nearly 20 years
CALHOUN CITY, Miss. (WCBI) – Tuesday, Albany Industries announced that Calhoun City will be home to its newest furniture manufacturing and shipping facility.
“Around here, there’s not a lot,” says Calhoun City resident Ranardo Pierce. “You got to kind of travel to go to factories. You got to get away from here, maybe go 30 to 45 miles down the road or whatnot.”
The factory brings 85 new jobs to the area.
“It’s been a while since jobs came into Calhoun City,” says Mayor Marshall W. Coleman. “It’s been a number of years. In the last 20 years, I can’t remember any jobs coming in.”
“85 (jobs)? That’s pretty good,” Pierce says. “That’s not bad, that’ll help a lot of people.”
Senator Benjamin Suber says Calhoun City is also getting $443,688 to renovate the building where Albany Industries will set up shop.
“They had already come to our town previously, but they couldn’t find a building,” Mayor Coleman says. “So what we did, we were instrumental in working with Albany to find a building.”
The mayor credits economic developer Sheila Freely with helping to facilitate the process. Albany will lease the 52,388-square-foot facility on South Madison Street from the city.
Mayor Coleman says these factory jobs will be well-paying, but won’t require too much experience.
“It’s the best of both worlds,” the mayor says. “These are good-paying jobs and you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to get employed at Albany Industries.”
Mayor Coleman expects the project to give the local economy a $2.6 million boost.
“We’re happy and elated that we can bring some jobs and keep our talent here at home,” he says. “If they work at home, you know what else they’ll do? They’ll buy at home, they’ll purchase at home, they’ll help stabilize retail outlets and gas stations.”
Albany Industries says it plans on starting up production in Calhoun City and filling all available jobs by the end of 2022.
