Expansion at GIW would bring jobs

GIW Industries Inc. intends to start work next year on an expansion project.

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Dennis Zeigler, president and chief executive officer at the Grovetown-based manufacturer, said the company hopes to start construction on a new 75,000-square-foot distribution center by the middle of 2010.

Once complete, likely in 2011, the new distribution center might lead to the hiring of 50 new employees, Zeigler said.

"But that's just the start of our expansion plans," he said. "In the next few years, we're hoping to increase our workforce by 50 percent."

The world's second-largest manufacturer of slurry pumps used in mining, much of GIW's expansion will occur in foreign markets.

"We'll start looking at plants in Canada, Europe, all over the world, really," Zeigler said. "We operate in a global market and we need to get our services closer to our customers."

The Grovetown plant, which employs about 500 people, will remain the headquarters of the GIW Industries operation, Zeigler said.