AAF to add 58 jobs in Fayetteville
by July 12, 2012 5:24 pm 169 views
Louisville, Ky.-based American Air Filter Co. (AAF) will invest $516,000 in its Fayetteville plant and add an estimated 58 jobs.
The Fayetteville plant, which makes panel and pleated air filters for a wide variety of end users, now employs 112. The plant is located at 2355 S. Armstrong Ave.
On May 15, AAF closed a similar operation in Hutchins, Texas, that employed 100 hourly and salaried workers.
“AAF is creating 58 good jobs for Arkansans through this expansion, highlighting the importance of our existing companies,” Grant Tennille, executive director of the Arkansas Economic Development Commission, said in a statement. “AAF’s decision to expand in Arkansas is a testament to the skills and work ethic of the company’s existing workforce.”
The company has more than 3,000 employees, 22 manufacturing facilities, and five research-and-development centers worldwide. AAF designs, develops, and makes air filtration solutions for commercial, industrial, cleanroom, transportation and nuclear power applications. AAF also offers inlet air cooling and sound attenuation solutions for high-speed rotating machinery.
“American Air Filter Company is one of our many excellent companies in Fayetteville, and we are excited about AAF’s expansion and the addition of 58 good-paying jobs that do much for our community and the State of Arkansas,” Fayetteville Mayor Lioneld Jordan noted in the statement issued by the AEDC. “This is another example of why Fayetteville, Arkansas is on top of lists nationally for doing business, including Forbes’s recent announcement of Fayetteville as #19 in the nation as a best city for business and careers.”
Jordan praised the efforts of the AEDC, Fayetteville Chamber of Commerce “and our successful economic development plan that grew out of Fayetteville Forward, a collaboration of citizens in our community to create an economic and community vision for our city.”
The new jobs could help continue a recent gain in Northwest Arkansas’ manufacturing sector. Jobs in the sector during May totaled an estimated 27,900, ahead of the 27,200 in April and down slightly from the 28,000 in May 2011. Average annual monthly employment in the sector during 2011 was 27,700, down compared to the 28,800 in 2010 and the 29,300 in 2009.