Mullican Flooring has announced plans to invest $15 million in equipment, buildings and working capital to expand its manufacturing operations via the acquisition of a 126,000-square-foot warehouse in Johnson City, Tenn. As a result, the company will create 200 new jobs over the next five years.
This latest expansion, which marks Mullican Flooring’s fourth major growth initiative in Johnson City during the past 16 years, will provide extra capacity as well as raw material and finished product storage space to meet increased manufacturing needs. Once completed, the expansion will nearly double the company’s current employment base in Washington County.
“Mullican Flooring is one of Tennessee’s homegrown success stories and I applaud them for their commitment to provide another 200 jobs for Johnson City and Washington County residents,” said Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam. “Our state’s ideal location, low cost of doing business and the strength of East Tennessee’s workforce make the ‘volunteer state’ the perfect place for manufacturing companies to thrive. Mullican Flooring’s decision to invest further in Washington County brings us another step closer to our goal to make Tennessee the No. 1 location in the Southeast for high-quality jobs.”
Randy Boyd, economic and community development commissioner, echoed those sentiments, adding: “Over the last five years, Tennessee has posted the second-largest percentage increase among southeastern states in manufacturing GDP, which reached $51.1 billion last year. To achieve such gains, we’ve needed to foster a business environment where manufacturers like Mullican Flooring can hit on all cylinders. Mullican Flooring’s expansion speaks volumes to the climate we’ve established for Tennessee businesses, but also to Mullican Flooring’s success as an important corporate citizen and employer.”
Founded in 1985 as a manufacturer of unfinished solid hardwood flooring, Mullican Flooring—which ranks among the top five hardwood flooring manufacturers—moved its corporate headquarters to Johnson City in 2000, adding prefinished flooring to its product line in 2003. In 2010, the company completed a $6 million expansion at its Johnson City facility that included additional production capabilities. And in 2012, Mullican Flooring completed a $12 million expansion project when it relocated its Johnson City headquarters and manufacturing operations to a larger, state-of-the-art facility on Woodlyn Road. That major expansion enabled the company to develop new product lines and shift previously offshored jobs back to the United States.
“Mullican Flooring has always found Washington County, Johnson City and the state of Tennessee to be exceptional partners to local businesses,” said Neil Poland, president of Mullican Flooring. “The tremendous work ethic of our existing employees has created a successful foundation at our Johnson City plant to help make this expansion possible. We look forward to reaping the benefits that this expansion will provide to both Mullican Flooring and our hometown community.”
State and local officials applaud the move. “We’re thrilled to see another industry expand in our community,” said Tommy Burleson, chair of the Washington County Economic Development Council. “Mullican Flooring’s commitment to retain 231 jobs and create an additional 200 new jobs reinforces the fact that this project is not only a great investment for Mullican Flooring, but also a great return on investment for our community.”
In that same vein, Johnson City Mayor Clayton Stout said he looks forward to the continued success of Mullican Flooring. “We appreciate the opportunity to participate in bringing in these types of quality manufacturing jobs to our city.”
Aside from its Johnson City facility, Mullican Flooring operates three other manufacturing plants in Virginia, New York and West Virginia.