By Annie Goeller, Daily Journal of Johnson County staff writer
agoeller@dailyjournal.net
A Greenwood company is expanding its operations in the United States and Mexico, a move that could add up to 100 jobs locally.
The Phoenix Group plans to add 75 to 100 jobs at its Greenwood corporate headquarters and warehouse, which currently employs 65 people, after expanding one of its divisions.
The company has facilities in Indiana, Texas and a new location in Mexico and employs more than 200 people.
More than 200 total new jobs are planned to be created by the end of next year with the expansion of the company's logistics division, which coordinates the order and delivery of interior construction supplies, equipment and furnishings for companies remodeling or constructing new buildings, said Jeff Wells, director of the company's logistics division.
Company officials won't be sure exactly how many new positions will be created until final contracts are negotiated with the businesses they work with, Wells said.
The biggest factors in The Phoenix Group's growth are a new contract with HEB-Mexico, one of the largest Mexican grocery chains, growing business with current customers and new customers that the company is nearing final negotiations with, Wells said.
The new positions will include a range of jobs, including warehousing, sales, planning, production managers and upper-level management, Wells said.
Not all the new jobs will come to Greenwood, but a large number likely will because the facility is the center of the company's operations, Wells said. That could mean that the Greenwood facility, especially the office space, will need to be expanded in the future, he said.
In the past month, the company has created 12 positions at its Greenwood location and a facility in Plainfield, with salaries ranging from $30,000 to $70,000, he said.
The company is hiring people on a regular basis to keep up with growth, but a massive hiring could happen in the future, he said.
Even though a new facility is opening in Mexico, the company still does much of its work in the United States, Wells said.
Most growth has been in the logistics division, where officials have tried to focus on businesses that fare well in a slow economy, such as the health care industry and grocery stores. Grocery stores are seeing increased business as families go out to eat less and cook at home more to save money, Wells said.
The company has two other divisions. Material management works with companies on inventory management and distribution. The sub-assembly division works with Japanese automotive companies on assembling smaller parts that are used in the production of vehicles, Wells said.
The logistics division works with businesses when they construct new buildings, remodel or expand, Wells said.
For example, if a grocery retailer was building a store, it would give a list of all the materials needed inside the building to The Phoenix Group.
The Phoenix Group organizes the ordering, storage and delivery of everything needed to make the store function, such as refrigeration equipment, shelving and other equipment. The company will make sure that materials are delivered when they are needed, preventing theft or damage if items were left for long periods of time at a construction site, Wells said.
And the company can coordinate the work at multiple sites. So, for example, a grocery store is building five new locations and needs ovens for each bakery. Instead of paying for delivery to each site, all five ovens can be picked up at once and stored in one location until they are needed with other supplies at the building site, Wells said.
That saves money, something many businesses are looking for in the current economy, a factor that also has led to The Phoenix Group's growth, he said.