Ashley Furniture to bring 320 jobs to NB
By Scott Mahon
The Herald-Zeitung
Published March 13, 2005
Ashley Furniture Homestores has chosen New Braunfels as the site for its regional distribution center and corporate headquarters in Texas, creating up to 320 jobs at full buildout.
After two months of behind-the-scenes negotiations with the city council, Comal County Commissioners and the New Braunfels 4B board, a $2 million loan will be offered to the company that would be paid back over a 10-year period.
The county and city may also share in the company’s sales tax revenues, similar to agreement made with other comapnies that chose to move to the area.
“This is a very similar arrangement to what we recently accomplished when we brought Home Depot Supply call center to New Braunfels,” said Mayor Adam Cork. “This is another example of how good things happen in a community when the right partnerships are formed. The city, 4B board, county and the chamber once again teamed up to bring another quality employer with good tax base to our community, giving our citizens an opportunity to live, work and shop right here in New Braunfels.”
The company plans to expand and upgrade an existing commercial building using the $2 million loan, said Matt Harrison, president of the 4B board.
“The loan is for a 10 year period, with no interest, but I think it could be paid back in very short order, maybe within two years,” he said. “Not only will the have a regional distribution center and corporate headquarters, but they will also have a retail scratch and dent operation in New Braunfels.”
Once in operation, the facility would create 320 jobs, Harrison said.
Hill Country Furniture Partners has the franchise for most Ashley Furniture stores in Texas, including San Antonio and Austin.
According to Chris Rhett, a managing partner with Hill Country Furniture Partners, Ashley Furniture Industries is a privately held world-wide manufacturer of home furnishings based in Arcadia, Wisc.
It has annual sales topping $2.7 billion and is the number one selling brand of home furnishings in America.
“When we complete our build-out of the Austin and San Antonio markets, we will have six Ashley Furniture Homestores locations in operation generating $150 million in annual sales,” he said.
New Braunfels will serve as the central distribution center for all locations, delivering 2,000 pieces of furniture daily to customers through-out central Texas, said Lindsay Stevens, director of merchandising for the company.
Gary Seals, also a managing partner with the company, recently purchased a home in New Braunfels.
“We are excited about being a part of the city of New Braunfels and plan to have the distribution center and corporate headquarters fully operational by the end of 2005,” Seals said. “We looked at several communities along the I-35 corridor, and it became clear that New Braunfels was committed to landing Ashley Furniture.”
Greater New Braunfels Chamber of Commerce President Michael Meek said the chamber’s economic development staff had been working with Ashley officials since last November.
“It’s been a team approach,” Meek said. “The city, county, 4B board and the chamber’s new economic development foundation all worked together.”
Comal County Judge Danny Scheel said he was pleased the company chose Comal County.
“We look forward to helping them in any way we can to create more jobs for our citizens in Comal County,” he said.
Harrison said the 4B board would hold a public hearing on March 24 to consider the financial incentives offered to the company.
Volunteers work to make county fair a success
By Ron Maloney
The Herald-Zeitung
Published September 17, 2005
Funnel cakes.
Cotton candy.
Sausage on a stick.
The Tilt-a-Whirl.
Ladies and gentlemen, step right up — it’s time for the 112th rendition of the Comal County Fair.
Friday, things were moving right along toward Tuesday night’s opening — the annual ritual of strobe-lit, carnival riding mayhem local kids have experienced for decades called “Suicide Night.”
Comal County Fair Association Executive Secretary Nancy Watts said barbecue cookoff contestants were arriving Friday afternoon and preparations were under way for the dance to come later tonight.
Watts said another fair association member had summed the situation up succinctly.
“We’re ready, because if we’re not, it’s too late to worry about it now,” Watts quoted.
There’s a lot more to getting the fair ready than is perhaps apparent to the uninitiated who merely go there to enjoy the event during the few short days it lasts.
Watts and the staff work year-round administering the fair, and as spring slides into summer, the work picks up.
Stanley Pehl worked months preparing the special fair section published by the Herald-Zeitung.
Volunteers began having “work days” early in the summer. They continue through this weekend.
Thursday, a Heart of America Shows advance team marked off the midway, and the carneys will begin arriving Sunday for set up Monday and Tuesday.
Painting, carpentry, fence-mending and landscaping all have to be brought up to standards for this county’s most important social and cultural event.
“We’ve repainted the grandstands,” Watts said, shaking her head. “That was a fun one. We built a new drink stand right off of it. It was in really bad shape. We’ve been working on that. They’ve also repainted the food court area.”
The phones have been ringing ... and ringing ... and ringing, Watts said.
“It feels like a hundred calls a day. The phone just rings constantly,” Watts said. “It’s enough that it’s really hard to check the answering machine.
Watts doesn’t care. She’s come to the county fair all her life, and to be able to work there is a dream, she said.
“I guess I’ve been coming forever — as far back as I can remember, and we won’t say how far that is,” she said, laughing. “I’ve always enjoyed coming. You’d think you’d get burned out, but I don’t think I’ve missed one yet. It’s fun and it’s interesting, and each year is something new.”
Pehl’s mother, Lucille, is a senior director who has been a member of the fair association for more than 30 years. She and her late husband, Chester, worked the fair for years.
“I was all over, you name it, and I think I’ve done about everything,” she said. “We’ve always ... you have to get up early, get in the office at 7 a.m. and come home at midnight or whenever it closes.”
It was work, but it was a labor of love, and something the Pehls passed on to their only child, Stanley, who himself has worked there many years.
Lucille Pehl wouldn’t change a bit of it.
“We’ve enjoyed the fair immensely,” she said. “I’ve always enjoyed every bit of it.”
Home Depot gets incentives for service center
By Scott Mahon
The Herald-Zeitung
Published July 31, 2004
Two years of behind-the-scenes negotiations culminated Friday when Gov. Rick Perry and local officials announced The Home Depot Supply would build a customer service center in New Braunfels that would create 350 new jobs.
Officials said the center would occupy eight acres, and would have an annual payroll of $7.2 million.
Local officials kept the announcement cloaked in secrecy for weeks, including Perry’s plans to attend.
Perry said company’s decision to build a service center in Comal County was the result of a joint effort between the state, city and county.
“This was a classic example of the state and the city working together,” he said.
Also attending the announcement were Mayor Adam Cork, state Rep. Carter Casteel, County Judge Danny Scheel, Greater New Braunfels Chamber of Commerce President Michael Meek and The Home Depot officials.
Meek said the city competed against a site in Illinois.
“The Home Depot narrowed its choice to New Braunfels or a site in Illinois, but I feel the deciding factors were our location, our work force and good financial incentives,” he said.
When completed next year, the center would be only the second customer service center in the country for The Home Depot Supply division, but officials wouldn’t disclose the proposed site for the 60,000-square-feet facility.
The Home Depot also plans to build a new technology center in Austin. The technology center and the New Braunfels service center represent an $800 million capital investment in Texas, officials said.
“Today’s announcement wouldn’t have happened without the hard work and support of Governor Perry, Mayor Adam Cork, the Austin Chamber of Commerce and the New Braunfels Chamber of Commerce,” said Bob DeRodes, executive vice president of The Home Depot Supply.
DeRodes said the Austin technology center would employ 500 people and would open within 18 months.
Cork said financial incentives offered by the state and New Braunfels to The Home Depot included “a sharing of sales taxes.”
“We can’t disclose the exact details of the financial incentives until we know the site location, but the most important thing is the city will get a portion of sales taxes from products shipped from any distribution center in Texas,” Cork said. “That’s going to amount to a significant amount of sales tax revenues for New Braunfels.”
Perry said the state contributed an $8.5 million incentive package from the Texas Enterprise Fund (TEF) for the Home Depot expansion.
The Home Depot Supply has three distribution centers in Texas — San Antonio, Houston and Dallas.
“The customer service center in New Braunfels will take orders for products, which will be shipped from The Home Depot Supply distribution centers,” Meek said.
The Home Depot Supply is a leading supplier of maintenance, repair and operations products to multifamily, educational and commercial properties.
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Kohl’s brings 150 new retail jobs
By Brandi Grissom
The Herald-Zeitung
Published August 04, 2004
Kohl’s, a national department store chain, will open the doors of its 47th Texas store here in October, store officials announced Tuesday.
Along with a variety of brand-name clothes, shoes, accessories and home products, the new store at the intersection of Interstate 35 North and Texas 46 will bring 150 jobs to New Braunfels.
Michael Meek, chamber of commerce president, said the national retailer will boost the local economy.
“It means our citizens don’t have to leave town to go to a Kohl’s,” Meek said. “They don’t have to drive to Austin or San Antonio.”
A survey of local shoppers revealed a need for apparel retailers like Kohl’s, Meek said.
“We do have a lot of citizens that leave the local shopping area to buy clothes,” he said. “If we could plug that hole, it could leave our hard-earned dollars circulating in the local economy longer.”
Having a successful, nationally recognized retailer in town could also lure other big-name retailers to the area, Meek said.
“Others will certainly recognize the Kohl’s brand and tell themselves if they’ve come to this market, there must be a comfort level that they could operate under here,” he said.
A high concentration of families with children in New Braunfels makes this community a good match for Kohl’s, said spokeswoman Tawn Earnest.
“Our core customer is shopping for her home and her family,” Earnest said. “We also look at growth patterns and traffic patterns in communities. This was a great area for us.”
Earnest said the company focused on making shopping convenient for customers, which helped determine everything from the store’s location to its interior design.
Kohl’s is already looking to fill some of the 150 positions the store will offer through a 24-hour applicant hotline, (877) 639-5645.
Positions available include customer service, management, security and housekeeping.
“There is always a need for more employment out there,” Meek said. “Retail jobs aren’t the highest wage employers in the community, but they certainly are good, clean jobs for people.” |