The company that operated a Kentucky candle factory leveled by a deadly winter tornado plans to ramp up production with a $33 million investment at a nearby plant, Gov. Andy Beshear announced Thursday.
Mayfield Consumer Products LLC, a maker of candles and other home fragrance products, plans to employ more than 500 people full time in the next five years at its factory in Hickory as it builds back production. The company’s plant in Mayfield took a direct hit from the tornado that devastated the town last December.
Several workers died at the factory — among the 81 people who died in Kentucky as the storms tore through parts of western Kentucky. Thousands left homeless found shelter with relatives and friends, or in emergency facilities, hotels and state parks.
.Beshear, a Democrat, touted the economic development news Thursday without mentioning workplace citations leveled against the company. The announcement comes just weeks after state officials issued citations against the company for alleged violations of Kentucky’s occupational safety and health laws. The company faces $21,000 in potential fines for three alleged violations related to the tornado, according to state Labor Cabinet documents obtained by The Associated Press on Thursday through an open records request.
Asked later Thursday about the citations, the governor’s office didn’t immediately comment.
The company also is defending itself against a lawsuit claiming it showed “flagrant indifference” by refusing to allow employees to go home early as the storm approached. Company officials did not immediately return calls Thursday seeking comment about the citations.
Beshear said more job announcements will be forthcoming as the Mayfield region continues to dig out from massive tornado damage.
“This expansion will re-establish the company’s employment base in the region and adds to the overall rebuilding efforts,” the governor said at his weekly news conference.
The governor has made repeated trips to western Kentucky in support of recovery efforts. He was on hand recently when three families were handed keys to new homes in Mayfield — the first houses to be fully constructed there since the tornado.
Mayfield Consumer Products had already started construction on one expansion at its location in the Hickory industrial park. It now plans another bigger expansion that will consolidate its operations following the destruction of its Mayfield plant. Hickory is about 6…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at ABC News: US…