CLARKSDALE, Miss. (AP) — AirGuide Manufacturing says it will move factory operations to Clarksdale, Miss., investing $720,000 to create 40 full-time jobs.
Based in Hialeah, Fla., AirGuide makes aluminum grilles, registers and diffusers for the heating, ventilation and air conditioning industry. Arcalux, a company with some common ownership that makes energy efficient lighting products, will also move operations to Clarksdale.
The companies will close facilities in Mexico and Houston, Texas, said Mississippi Development Authority spokeswoman Sally Williams.
"We believe this new location will enable AirGuide Manufacturing and Arcalux to better serve our customers and further improve our competitiveness manufacturing our HVAC and energy efficient lighting products, and we look forward to starting operations in Clarksdale," Ron McCarty, CEO of both firms, said in a joint statement with Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant.
The Economic Development Authority of Coahoma County will lease a 60,000 square-foot building to AirGuide. Ron Hudson, the authority's executive director, said the building formerly housed the operations of Taylor Chair Co., which closed its Clarksdale plant in 2006.
MDA will channel an $800,000 federal Community Development Block Grant to AirGuide, and the Economic Development Authority of Coahoma County will provide an $80,000 local match for the grant. Williams said that money will go to improve a building owned by the authority. MDA will also give AirGuide a $65,000 incentive from the Momentum Mississippi fund, she said.
Hudson said Coahoma Community College will provide training for company workers.