RICHMOND - Governor Timothy M. Kaine today announced that Earle M. Jorgensen Company (EMJ) will invest about $6 million to open a metal products distribution facility in Dinwiddie County, creating 16 jobs.
“EMJ has grown into one of the largest metal distributors in the world,” Governor Kaine said. “Dinwiddie County had a developable tract of land that met the company’s needs and this new facility allows convenient access to EMJ’s existing Mid-Atlantic customer base.”
EMJ, headquartered in Lynwood, California, is one of the largest distributors of metal products in North America with 40 service and processing centers. EMJ inventories more than 25,000 different bar, tubing, plate, and various other metal products, specializing in cold finished carbon and alloy bars, mechanical tubing, stainless bars and shapes, aluminum bars, shapes and tubes and hot-rolled carbon and alloy bars.
“We are very pleased to be adding a new service center to the Dinwiddie area,” said Gregg Jones, EMJ District Manager. “For the last 30 years we’ve serviced the I-95 corridor of Virginia from either Baltimore, Maryland or Charlotte, North Carolina, and have always had a sales representative in the area. With the promising local economy and the growing industrial base in the area, we feel this is an exciting opportunity to make this move for future growth. We currently have an established customer base in Virginia, and look forward to increasing the current level of service with more local deliveries and value added processes, while expanding our customer base. With our ‘On Time or Free’ guarantee, we believe we monitor our performance closer than our competition, therefore lowering our customers’ total costs and enabling them to focus on manufacturing.”
The Virginia Economic Development Partnership worked with Dinwiddie County and Virginia’s Gateway Region to secure the project for Virginia. The Virginia Tobacco Indemnification and Community Revitalization Commission approved $65,000 in Tobacco Region Opportunity Funds for the project. The company is eligible to receive state benefits from the Virginia Enterprise Zone Program, administered by the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development.
“Dinwiddie County is very pleased that Earle M. Jorgensen (EMJ) has chosen our locality to establish the operations of their newest facility,” said Dinwiddie County Administrator, Kevin Massengill. “The County's rich transportation network, leadership's pro-business attitude and our proximity to established metals clusters helped to provide a strong business choice for Earle M. Jorgensen. EMJ answered the call to provide additional quality employment opportunities for the County residents. We look forward to their success as the newest corporate citizen in the emerging business climate of the County.”
"The EMJ project is a great addition to the economic well-being of Dinwiddie County,” said Harrison Moody, member, the Virginia Tobacco Indemnification and Community Revitalization Commission. “As a member of the Tobacco Commission and the Dinwiddie County Board of Supervisors, I welcome the opportunity to work closely with EMJ to foster a long term beneficial relationship for the company, the county and the citizens of the tobacco region."
The Tobacco Indemnification and Community Revitalization Commission is a 31-member body created by the 1999 General Assembly. It has, as a significant part of its mission, the promotion of economic growth and development in tobacco-dependent communities. To date, the Commission has awarded 973 grants totaling more than $432 million across the tobacco region of the Commonwealth. For complete information on all of the Commission’s history, mission, funding programs and past awards, visit www.tic.virginia.gov .