Published: February 10, 2007 12:37 am            

Yutaka seeking workers

Applications sought by manufacturer; 200 jobs available

Cullman’s newest auto-parts manufacturer, Yutaka Technologies, is currently accepting resumes for administrative and management positions, according to the Cullman Economic Development Agency.

With a total of 200 jobs to be filled before the plant becomes operational in November, the plant is accepting resumes for qualified human-resources, accounting, administrative and maintenance professionals.

Applications are also being sought for qualified contractors and subcontractors to help build the 166,000-square-foot facility, but applications for hourly and production positions will not be taken until a later date.

According to Cal Wray, a spokesperson for the CEDA, plant openings in Cullman have historically received a generous response from would-be employees. He said when Topre Corporation opened its doors in 2004, advertising 200 hundred job openings, about 2,300 people applied.

“Typically, companies will get about 50 to 100 resumes for every job they announce,” he said.

With construction already underway, the plant will soon be under the management of plant manager and Senior-Vice President Jim Willoby and President Tamotsu Ishikawa.

Wray said Willoby will officially be on the job in Cullman Friday, but resumes should be sent to the CEDA.

While starting pay for the Cullman plant was not clear Friday, according to the Web page for Yutaka’s Cardington, Ohio plant; hourly wages there start at $10.70 per hour and include benefits. That plant which measures 386,000 square feet was opened in 1996.

Yutaka Technologies manufactures exhaust and break components for Honda Motor Company. It is expected to make a $50 million capital investment in the Cullman plant.

Once completed, the new plant will be called, Alabama Cullman Yutaka Technologies. It will supply parts to a Honda plant in Lincoln, Tenn.

While CEDA officials hinted in advance that a large auto-parts plant was coming to Cullman, the company’s name was not released until this Wednesday in a ceremony with Gov. Bob Riley, Lt. Gov. Jim Folsom Jr. and a number of other state and local officials.

According to Yutaka President and CEO Masaru Takabayashi, Cullman was selected as the location for the new plant due to its proximity to the interstate, its existing infrastructure, its economic-development program and the area’s high-quality work force.

“I have no doubt we will be able to hire a quality work force here in Cullman,” he said.

Resumes should be sent to Alabama Cullman Yutaka Technologies, Care of CEDA, P.O. Box 1009, Cullman, AL 35056.

        

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