Los Angeles’ Bella+Canvas will open a fabric-cutting facility in a former Russell Brands building in Wetumpka, creating more than 550 jobs.
Gov. Kay Ivey made the announcement this morning.
The project will inject $11.9 million into reanimating a portion of a 890,000-square-foot building at 3145 Elmore Rd., which has been vacant since 2013.
Ivey called the announcement “welcome news.”
“Not only will the company’s growth project spark the creation of a significant number of jobs, but it also underscores how Alabama is ready and eager to play a role in America’s manufacturing renaissance,” Ivey said.
Bella+Canvas, which promotes a “Made in the U.S.A.” focus, produces clothing for the retail and wholesale markets, with design and manufacturing services.
According to the company, the Wetumpka factory will be modeled on the company’s Los Angeles cutting facility, which uses proprietary software and cutting tables to cut about 3 million garments a week.
Positions to be staffed at the facility include spreaders, general cutting laborers, forklift operators, shipping and receiving clerks, and administrative staff. Average annual wages will be $46,000, according to the company.
Bella+Canvas President Chris Blakeslee said Wetumpka was chosen after a comprehensive search which showed the new location “was not only optimal to enhance our manufacturing footprint and technologically advanced operations levels, but also ideal in terms of support from the local government and access to great new team members.”
AIDT will assist the company with job training services.
“Alabama’s manufacturing sector provides an ideal home for technologically advanced operations like the one planned by BELLA+CANVAS in Wetumpka,” Greg Canfield, Alabama Commerce Secretary, said. “This is a state-of-the-art facility, designed to be highly efficient with precise processes, and I know our capable workforce will help make it successful.”
Two years ago, Wisconsin-based Phoenix Investors announced that an affiliate had acquired the former Russell Brands building in Wetumpka.
