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Flanders CEO on hand for ribbon cutting
Dec 19, 2011 12:04 am
Debby Mayer reports on work conditions at the new Flanders air filter factory in The Columbia Paper. The non-unionized workers start at $7.50 per hour and get two paid 15-minute breaks per day and a half-hour unpaid lunch. The plant runs two 10-hour shifts weekdays and one (mostly automated) 12-hour shift on the weekend. Mayer writes that the factory is clean, well lit, and safety signs are printed in English, Spanish and Bengali. Flanders distributes air filters under the Ace and True Value brand names to stores such as Home Depot, Lowe's and Walmart. CEO Harry Smith was among those on hand for a ribbon cutting ceremony this past Wed., Dec. 14, though workers have been producing air filters there since mid-September. The North Carolina-based company bought the former Kaz plant on Route 9 just outside Hudson last June. Read the entire story in The Columbia Paper.