Vanguard National to Build Plant in Dade County

TRENTON, GA. (WDEF-TV) – It’s the best news Dade county’s had since the Shaw plant closed 7 years ago.
Vanguard National Trailer Corporation will soon bring 400 new jobs to the area.
County leaders say it’s a boon for the entire county.
Little Dade county Georgia has been preparing for the last few years to attract a major employer. And now they’ve found one.

TED RUMLEY, CHAIRMAN, DADE COUNTY COMMISSION "The IDA purchased property ..we’ve had it about two years now…which was another 260 to 280 acres adjoining our old industrial park …because we were out of land to sell."

Vanguard National Trailer corporation made several trips to Trenton to look over the property.
Interstate 59 and a major railroad line mean plenty of transportation options.
And the Industrial Development Authority decided to be very agressive.

PETER CERVELLI "We provided them 10 years of tax-free ..for the next 10 years..and we provided significant financial incentives for the infrastructure…as did the state of Georgia."

The State of Georgia is providing over a million dollars for infrastructure work for the 350-thousand square foot plant .
Shaw plant number 76 closed back in 2008, leaving 420 people without jobs.

PETER CERVELLI, EXEC. DIR., INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY "This starts to bring back the opportunity for a lot of people who may want to come back here and work again in Trenton and Dade county….where they were actually doing very well,and were very happy."

TED RUMLEY "All these people …you know that lost their job….they’re working but they’re working at really minimum wage …I mean ….some of them are just working for insurance. "

PETER CERVELLI "Well,I know they’d like to be up and running by the end of April next year. They’re very aggressive."

Cervelli says job applications will be taken next year.
Vanguard manufactures dry freight and refrigerated semi-trailer vans.
They have 47-thousand employees world-wide.