Gov. McAuliffe announces 405 new jobs at old Ball Corp. in Bristol
BRISTOL, Va. -- Governor Terry McAuliffe today announced that American Merchant, Inc., a subsidiary of Merchant House International Ltd, a Hong Kong-based designer and manufacturer of home textiles, seasonal décor products, and leather shoes, will invest $19.9 million to establish its first U.S. manufacturing operation in the City of Bristol. The new textiles plant will expand the company’s home décor products division into the U.S. Virginia successfully competed against Arkansas, Florida, Mississippi, North Carolina, Rhode Island, and South Carolina for the project, which will create 405 new jobs.
“It's an honor to welcome American Merchant to Southwest Virginia and to our impressive roster of international manufacturing companies, which represent more than $118 billion in direct economic output across the Commonwealth,” said Governor McAuliffe, speaking at the event.
City of Bristol, Virginia Mayor, Kevin Mumpower stated, “This location has always been a mainstay in our city’s economy, providing good jobs and good wages and acting as a steward for our vision of Bristol, Virginia being a great place to live and work. We therefore are very excited to welcome a new employer to this location and we eagerly anticipate a continuation of this trend. We look forward to the new jobs created for our citizens and the increase in our local tax base. With the soon-to-happen building improvements, machinery and equipment investments, and employee hiring, we are looking forward to seeing this building busy with activity and we are extremely grateful for being the chosen location for this exciting new venture.”
American Merchant, Inc., a subsidiary of Merchant House International Ltd. (MHI Group), is a newly-formed company that will manufacture embroidered hand and bath towels in Bristol, Virginia. Merchant House International, listed on the Australia Securities Exchange, operates in three segments: home textiles, footwear manufacturing, and footwear trading. The company offers kitchen items, table top products, kitchen rugs, and decorative pillows; as well as footwear products, including: work boots, safety toe boots, waterproof footwear security boots, motorcycle boots, hunting boots, and farm and ranch western boots for men. It also engages in the export trading of its work boots and safety shoes. The company sells its products in the United States, Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and China. Merchant House International is bringing textiles back to America due to plentiful cotton supplies, cleaner and more sustainable energy, and lower tax rates than China.
Read more: http://www.heraldcourier.com/news/gov-mcauliffe-announces-new-jobs-at-old-ball-corp-in/article_2e202c5e-df6d-11e7-8489-8b45700248d0.html
