Since opening in Cherokee County in 2000, KTH Leesburg Products has doubled in size and speaks only of positive things ahead.

Gene Cleveland, administrative manager and Tim Inoue, president, KTH Leesburg Products, gave an update on the Leesburg plant during a recent meeting of the Centre Rotary Club.

Cleveland introduced Tim Inoue who has been president of KTH Leesburg since October 2003. Inoue expressed his appreciation to the community for the excellent employees from this area and expressed his desire to remain in this area for a long time to come. He also said there are exciting times ahead for KTH.

“I love Alabama very much,” said Inoue. “You have very kind and honest people here.”

“We did the original ground breaking in June 2000,” said Cleveland. “We did a ribbon cutting ceremony in September 2000 for a 2,500 metric ton press and then we made our first shipment of trial parts to Honda in July 2001. We did an expansion of our facilities and did a groundbreaking in January 2003. Shortly after our groundbreaking, Honda acknowledged us with a very prestigious quality award for 2002. Later on, we did a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a 1,500-ton press. In March of this year, Honda bestowed upon us again a very prestigious delivery award for 2003. We are very fortunate to be here because of the wonderful people we’ve been able to hire and work together to achieve these wonderful goals.”

KTH, Cleveland said, anticipated its hiring radius to extend mostly through Cherokee, Dekalb and Etowah Counties. The plant is located about 60 miles from Lincoln, Ala. where Honda manufactures the Odysseys now. And you can see some of the other Honda suppliers located near the plant as well.

Over the past few years, KTH has doubled in size, in terms of its building and also the number of employees, Cleveland said.

“We are currently at 262 employees,” said Cleveland. “By the end of our fiscal year, we should be around 279. The reason this is continuing to go up is because the Line 2 production will be increasing between now and next year.”

KTH, Cleveland said, has been active in its community with such projects as Red Cross Blood Drives, a KTH Golf Tournament and numerous others. KTH also gives employees the option of contributing to United Way and these funds go to the county of the employees’ choice.

“We want them to be a responsible member of society,” said Cleveland. “KTH Leesburg Products has been very active in many donations and contributions to the community.”

“Safety and health of our associates is the utmost importance,” said Cleveland. “Safety first, quality second and efficiency, third. We want to make that everybody does their job safely each day. We want to make sure they do their jobs well.”

KTH works closely with the Leesburg Fire Department on various safety programs, Cleveland said.

KTH Company Profile information is as follows:

*Parent Company: KTH Parts Industries, Ohio

*Capital: $23,000,000

*Groundbreaking: June 13, 2000

*Stamping Production start: Sept. 29, 2001

*Welding Production start: Oct. 1, 2001

*Line 1 Mass Production start: Oct. 1, 2001

*Line 2 Mass Production start: Nov. 1, 2001

*Current employment: 240 Associates

*Building Size: 344,950 square feet

*Land Size: 56 acres

*Weld Capacity: 1,300 units/day

*Stamping Press: 2,500-ton +1,500 ton

*Blanking Press: 600 ton

*Welding Robot: 217

Before Expansion After Expansion

Capital Investment $59,900,000 $119,300,000

Building Size 172,950 square feet 344,950 square feet

Manufacturing Area 167,900 square feet 312,900 swuare feet

Blanking Press 600 ton 600 ton

Transfer Press 2,500 ton 2,500 ton + 1,500 ton

# of Welding Robots 107 217

# of Associates 195 280-300

Daily Production Capacity 650 units 1,300 units

The KTH Leesburg Products LLC Management Team is composed of Tim Inoue, president; Yori Iida, senior vice president; John Boyer, vice president/plant manager; Gene Cleveland, administrative manager: Dan Thorton, production manager and Matt Hoffman, quality manager.

Some of KTH’s achievements are as follows:

*recording 0 OSHA recordable injuries, 0 quality index and 0 Delivery Trouble Report in July 2002.

*receipt of 2002 Honda Quality Award, March 19, 2003

*Receipt of 2003 Honda Delivery Award, March 17, 200