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Plant expansion to boost employment

• A Tifton plant expansion is expected to create approximately 250 jobs.

Susan McCord

TIFTON — An expansion at Heatcraft Refrigeration in Tifton will result in the creation of more than 200 jobs, a plant official said Thursday.

A 325,000-square-foot expansion opening in July will more than double the size of Heatcraft’s facilities in southeast Tifton, which currently employ about 350 people, according to Human Resources Manger Mike McDaniel.

“It’s a big win,” McDaniel said. “We’re proud our business is expanding, and we’re proud we’re expanding in Southwest Georgia as well.”

Tifton is about 43 miles east of Albany.

A job fair May 3 in Tifton will likely draw thousands from a 10-county region to fill approximately 250 positions Heatcraft is adding during the next few months, McDaniel said.

Recently, more than 500 people applied for 30 openings at Tifton food-service distributor COI, he said.

In the last year, manufacturers Tifton Aluminum and Prestolite have closed their Tifton plants.

A division of Fortune 500 company Lennox International, Heatcraft builds refrigeration units for retailers, such as the units that chill coolers for dairy products.

Heatcraft offers a clean, stable manufacturing environment that is cool, even during hot Southwest Georgia summers, McDaniel said.

“We’ve got a little inside track on that,” he said.

Heatcraft is working with Georgia Quickstart to get new hires trained quickly for when the plant goes online, he said.

The plant is seeking assembly workers, machine operators, forklift drivers, brazers and welders, maintenance workers and tool and die workers.

The job fair will be held from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. May 3 at Moultrie Technical College’s Tifton Campus Conference Center.

Starting pay for most of the jobs will be $9-$10 an hour, to top off at $12-$16 an hour within a year, and Heatcraft offers medical insurance, profit-sharing and a 401(k) retirement plan, he said.

Heatcraft requires its workers to have a high school diploma or GED.

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