Representatives from Precision, Pulley and Idler discussed what it means to work for their company on Wednesday at the Maysville Community and Technical College.
The Maysville facility will manufacture pulleys and roller bars for the parcel industry.
PPI is based in Pella, Iowa, and provides equipment for the major bulk and material handling component industry, according to PPI CEO Roger Brown.
It was founded in 1977 and currently operates 12 facilities including manufacturing facilities, warehouses, service centers and a training center in the United States, as well as international facilities in Chile and Canada. The company is 100 percent employee owned, he said.
The company will move into an existing building on Progress Way, off Kentucky 9, near Enviroflight, according to Brown, and plans to make significant investments over the next several years at the facility. The investment will include building costs as well as adding equipment to fulfill customers orders, he said.
Brown said customers are important to the company.
“PPI is about customer service,” he said. “The customer is number one and they have to be number one. We don’t exist without a customer and if you talk to our folks, we will go out of our way to satisfy a customer. If you ask any of our employee-owners, they will tell you that. Like I said, we’re employee-owned, which means we work for ourselves. It truly does separate us from other companies around the world.”
The Maysville project will create 134 full-time jobs over the next 10 years.
During the discussion on Wednesday, Brown and Human Resources Director Leslie Johnston answered several questions about working for the company, including rate of pay, benefits and how to apply.
“We treat everyone with respect,” she said. “We listen to our employees. I get a chance to visit all of our locations and I conduct what I call a swat and I talk to the employees about what’s going on and what we can do about it.”
According to Johnston, the company will begin accepting employment applications on May 1 at the Kentucky Career Center with plans to hire roughly 15-20 people.
“We’re hoping to hire 15-20 people each year,” Johnston said. “We need welders, assemblers, machinists.”
Johnston said the starting pay would be around $16 and will go up based on experience. The benefits also include insurance, short-term and long-term disability, tuition assistance, vacation and holidays as well as a profit sharing bonus that employees will normally receive the Monday before Black Friday.
“Our insurance will beat anyone’s insurance, trust me,” Brown said. “When we’ve switched people to our insurance, they’ve been unbelievably pleased to be on our insurance instead of the previous insurance.”
Shifts are expected to be Monday-Thursday with overtime on Friday when needed.
“Probably around July or August is when work will begin,” she said. “It will be one shift starting out with Monday through Thursday 6 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and typically five hours on Friday for overtime.”
Applications will be accepted May 1 with interviews in June. The plant is expected to open in September.
Owen McNeill, the Maysville-Mason County industrial authority executive director, said he was excited to see PPI moving into the area.
“(Wednesday’s) presentation and PPI career information session highlights what an outstanding place do business that Maysville is,” he said. “Where else can you find this holistic approach to assisting companies locate here? Partners including MCTC and the Maysville Career Center and others work hand in hand to ensure not only companies have the land and infrastructure they need but also the highly skilled workforce needed for them to thrive.”
More information about the company can be found by visiting www.ppi-global.com.
