07/31/2012
July 31, 2012
Heatmax to unveil $6 million expansion
12 to 15 new jobs expected
Charles Oliver
[email protected]
Heatmax knows a thing or two about keeping things warm, and the Dalton-based company plans to heat up the local economy.
Heatmax, which manufactures Hothands recreational warmers, will hold a ribbon cutting on Friday for a $6 million, 50,000-square-foot expansion of its warehouse on Kraft Drive.
John Weathers, chief financial officer for Heatmax, says about half of that expansion will be used for manufacturing.
“So our manufacturing area is going from 9,000 square feet to 25,000 square feet,” he said.
“While we were planning this, we purchased one of our competitors, which had been manufacturing their goods offshore. What we will be doing in the future, not immediately, is bringing all that back in to our facility in Dalton. We’ll probably end up adding another 12 to 15 people,” Weathers said.
Heatmax currently employs 128.
Heatmax was founded in Dalton in 1989. It currently controls about 80 percent of the recreational warmer market.
“We currently buy several things from our parent company. We are owned by Kobayashi Pharmaceutical in Japan. They bought us in 2006,” Weathers said. “That has gotten more expensive because of the exchange rate of the yen. So our strategy is to do more things here, so we aren’t as affected by the exchange rate and time and transportation.”
