Rogersville, TN—(April 14, 2008)—Rogersville's newest
industry, Sam Dong Company will initially employ 60 people at the
former Assured Casing plant, but company leaders hope to grow to 100
employees within a year.
The South Korean-based company purchased the 80,000
square foot former Assured Casing plant in the Rogersville Industrial
Park last September and refitted the plant with new equipment including
a unique machine for coating copper cable and wire with an insulating
material. That machine is housed in a new 90 foot tall building, making
it the tallest structure in Rogersville.
The Rogersville plant will specialize in magnet wire
products used in electrical transformers, although the company also
produces magnetic wire for electrical motors and generators. The new
Rogersville Sam Dong plant made its first product shipment on March
14.
Chief Executive Officer Ee Joo Lee, as well as Plant
Manager, Sun Gi Park and company President Leon Malloy, hosted an
open house on April 15 that included VIP plant tours and a ribbon-cutting
ceremony.
Lee is enthusiastic about future growth in the Rogersville
plant, which joins the company's three plants in South Korea. "We'll
be up to 100 employees this year, and next year in the second step
of our investment we'll be up around 200 - in 2009 or early 2010,"
Lee said. "In Korea now we have 350 employees, and we'll have
100 here this year. By 2010 we'll have more than 500 employees (worldwide)."
Malloy said Rogersville was an excellent location for
the new plant due to its proximity to customers in Virginia and the
Midwest, and the availability of shipping routes to Europe, South
America and other worldwide markets. The Rogersville location was
also chosen for the reliability of the electrical supply provided
by the Tennessee Valley Authority and distributed by the Holston Electric
Cooperative.
For more information on the Sam Dong Company, visit
their website at www.samdongkorea.com.
