The Norman Transcript
By Randall Turk

Transcript Business Editor

The 200,000-square-foot Albon Engineering -- Manufacturing plant is nearing completion in the Norman Business Park.

Plant manager Roland Lee, who moved to Norman from the company's headquarters in England several weeks ago, said the Norman factory should be completed around April 15. Albon offices should open and tooling begin around the last of April, Lee said.

"Production should start the first of June," Lee said. "It's an absolutely first-class operation." Most of the 200 employees to be hired for the Norman plant will be local residents, the company says. The annual payroll will be an estimated $8.4 million.

Lee and the plant's first four Norman employees left Saturday for Albon's headquarters in Essex, England. There, the employees will receive technical training in the company's manufacturing procedures and return to "thoroughly Albonize" others.

The initial Albon workforce for the Norman plant will be hired between now and early June, plant officials said. More Albon technicians will be added and trained as the plant increases production capacity.

Albon, founded in 1970, engineers and produces connecting rods and other engine components for major automotive and heavy-duty equipment companies.

In mid-2004, Albon's director of manufacturer said work for Volvo trucks and cars and Caterpillar and Cummins engines will be moved to Norman, while the company's United Kingdom plants will concentrate on new European business. The volume of products Albon manufactures for the U.S. has been growing at the rate of about 40 percent a year, said Mark Albon, the son of Albon founder Larry Albon.

The company's plans to locate in Norman were interrupted for eight months last year by another plant site offer from the state of Virginia. "It's just one of those things that happen when you have an announcement about a new employer," said Don Wood, executive director of the Norman Economic Development Coalition.

Wood, who worked behind the scenes to land the English manufacturing company for Norman, said last year it "makes sense" for companies to evaluate all feasible site locations and economic incentives. "It's the nature of major projects today to go after the best incentive package they can possibly negotiate," Wood said. "That's just good business."

Ultimately, the quality of the workforce and the opportunities afforded by the University of Oklahoma and Moore Norman Technology Center turned out to be just the incentives Albon wanted.

In earlier comments for The Transcript, Mark Albon said cheap labor was not a consideration for the company's first factory in North America. "If we'd wanted cheaper labor we'd have gone to Brazil or Mexico," he said. "Our concern is getting the right people."

Randall Turk 366-3547 rturk@normantranscript.com