Albany Industries buys plant, expanding

TIPPAH COUNTY — Albany Industries is expanding its manufacturing base into Tippah County with the recent purchase of the 260,000-square-foot Agracel facility in the North Ripley Industrial Park.

Production capacity had reached a peak in the company’s New Albany facility and additional manufacturing space was needed, according to Richie McLarty, president of Albany Industries.

Company representatives indicate that as many as 200 new jobs will be created at the new facility with production scheduled to begin in late June.

Terry Treadaway, vice president of logistics and shipping, said that the new facility will be a manufacturing facility and typically a customer pickup location. Very little of the building will be used for warehousing or storage of finished goods.

Albany Industries is an upholstered furniture manufacturer that was founded in 1995 in New Albany with 15 employees in a 10,000-square-foot facility. Since then, the company has grown to almost 500 employees in almost 700,000 square feet of manufacturing space in Union County.