Buck Burwell

Lakeland, Fla.— Florida Tile announced plans to make a major investment in a state-of-the-art porcelain tile production line at its Lawrenceburg, Ky., facility. When completed, the new line will produce approximately 40 million square feet of porcelain tile annually. The total investment will be close to $20 million, and the overall project will take two years to complete.

The first phase of the construction is scheduled to begin later this year and first production is expected to be available in May of 2007. The next phase for the plant is scheduled to follow immediately and expected to be completed in October of 2008. The project will bring about 67 new jobs to Anderson County.

Buck Burwell, Florida Tile’s CEO, said, “This project is part of our overall long term plan to upgrade and modernize our company’s product offering, improve service and reduce response time to our customers. We’ll soon have domestic state-of-the-art porcelain floor tile production, domestic wall tile production and our National Distribution Center; all located together in Lawrenceburg, Ky.

“Our clay tile plant in Shannon, Ga., will continue to produce floor tile and trim for about a year, but will gradually be phased down as the porcelain production in Kentucky becomes available,” he added. “We will continue to service our product lines through their normal life cycle. Our best selling clay products will be either out-sourced or converted to porcelain.

“Governor Fletcher, the Kentucky Economic Development authorities, Anderson County Development Authority and Fiscal Court officials, and Bobby Sparrow, Lawrenceburg’s Mayor, all worked tirelessly to bring this project to Kentucky,” he continued. “They helped us put a plan together that makes the most economic sense for all concerned.”

Guiliano Pini, CEO of the Panaria Group, Florida Tile’s parent company, said, “Since the Florida Tile acquisition, the U.S. has become an even more important market for our group and is the market with the most interesting expected growth rate in the mid-term. For this reason, it is strategically important to have an efficient production plant in the U.S. in order to improve the service to our customers and to reduce transportation costs and duties.”

For more information, call 863/687-7171.
—Louis Iannaco