Roper to hire 80 more workers for LaFayette, Ga., oven plant

Roper Corporation employee's Faye Goins, left, and Stacy Johnson run ground path testing on a new appliance on the production line in LaFayette. The appliance manufacturer  has taken aggressive steps to promote wellness by creating an onsite medical and wellness center for their employees and families.
Roper Corporation employee's Faye Goins, left, and Stacy Johnson run ground path testing on a new appliance on the production line in LaFayette. The appliance manufacturer has taken aggressive steps to promote wellness by creating an onsite medical and wellness center for their employees and families.

IF YOU GO

* What: Job recruitment for Roper Corp.'s LaFayette, Ga., plant * When: Friday, March 27, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. * Where: Chattooga County Civic Center, 44 Highway 48, Summerville, Ga. * For information: Contact the LaFayette Career Center at 706-638-5525

photo Roper Corporation employee's Faye Goins, left, and Stacy Johnson run ground path testing on a new appliance on the production line in LaFayette. The appliance manufacturer has taken aggressive steps to promote wellness by creating an onsite medical and wellness center for their employees and families.

Roper Corp., one of the largest manufacturers in Northwest Georgia, plans to add to its workforce by hiring 80 more employees at a job fair next week.

The oven maker, which operates its biggest domestic cooking appliance plant in LaFayette, Ga., is filling both new and open positions, said company spokesman Scott Reece.

"The jobs will help us meet production and sales demands," he said. Reece said that an $88 million expansion in 2013 grew capacity at the plant, which employs about 1,650 people and is a part of General Electric.

The Georgia Department of Labor will hold the job fair in nearby Summerville, Ga., for the manufacturing workers.

Salaries for the jobs begin at $12.30 an hour, according to the department.

Sam Hall, the department's communications director, said Roper asked GDOL for help in filling the posts. The company, which manufactures kitchen stoves and microwaves, will be hiring production and assembly-line workers.

The recruitment will be from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday, March 27, at the Chattooga County Civic Center, 44 Highway 48 in Summerville.

Staff members of GDOL's LaFayette Career Center will screen applicants and help job seekers fill out paperwork prior to interviews with company representatives. GDOL encouraged applicants "to dress appropriately to improve their opportunities for jobs."

Due to federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration regulations, applicants must be at least 18 years old. Job seekers also must have a high school diploma, or General Education Diploma (GED), a valid driver's license, and a U.S. Social Security card.

Veterans must have a U.S. Department of Defense DD-214 form, according to GDOL. The company will conduct background checks and drug-screening tests on selected applicants.

GE spokeswoman Kim Freeman said Wednesday that a proposed sale of the company's appliances unit, including Roper, is still going through the regulatory process. She expected the deal to close sometime this year.

Sweden's Electrolux AB agreed last September to pay $3.3 billion in cash for the American company's appliances business, giving it the scale to go head-to-head with larger rival Whirlpool. That Michigan-based company has an oven manufacturing plant in Cleveland, Tenn.

GE's century-old household appliance business had $5.7 billion in 2013 revenue.

Electrolux, the world's second-largest appliance maker by sales, will double its annual sales to more than $10 billion in North America through its purchase of GE's appliance division. It also gets to keep the iconic GE Appliance brands.

The GE unit sells refrigerators, stoves, air conditioners and water heaters.

Contact Mike Pare at mpare@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6318.

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