Timber Truss' plant eventually will employ 131 people including production, sales, engineering and office staff. The company is hiring some former employees of General Shale, an Orange County brick company that recently closed. View More Images from this story Visit the Photo Place

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Building business

Timber Truss Opens Factory in Orange

Date published: 11/18/2005

By ROBIN KNEPPER

Timber Truss Housing Systems Inc. has started production of roof and flooring trusses on a 30-acre site next to Orange County Airport.

Development of its new facility brings the 45-year-old company closer to its customers in the Fredericksburg area. It also is providing work for some former employees of General Shale, the Orange brick company that closed in September.

The manufacturing plant started production Nov. 9, but it is operating only at a minimum level, said President Gary Saunders. He said he expects the plant to be fully operational by spring, with 60 to 70 production workers.

When the facility is fully operational it will have 131 employees, including production, sales, engineering and office staff.

Timber Truss has made an $8.5 million investment in land acquisition, site preparation, plant construction and road construction for the 74,000-square-foot facility, said Orange County Administrator Bill Rolfe. An additional 20,000 square feet of space is used for lumber storage.

Timber Truss was founded in 1960 and is owned by W.A. James. Its primary manufacturing and sales facility is located in Salem, and it has sales and engineering offices in Blacksburg, Lynchburg and Smith Mountain Lake.

A fourth office had been located in Charlottesville, but it has been moved to the Orange facility.

For Timber Truss to open another manufacturing facility "is a huge step for our company," Saunders said. The Orange plant, however, will only manufacture trusses. In Salem, the company carries additional products, including cabinets and fixtures, in its showrooms.

"We're fairly successful in southwest Virginia, offering a full package of building supplies," Saunders said. "But we don't want to compete with our customers here."

The majority of Timber Truss customers in this region are building-supply companies.

Timber Truss has been selling in the Fredericksburg market for the last 10 years and has expanded its customer base into Northern Virginia as well.

"Loren [McGarrahan, the company's executive vice president] and I scouted around the Harrisburg, D.C., Charlottesville triangle for another manufacturing site," Saunders said. "The assistance we got from Orange County was very important. When we asked for assistance, they did everything they could to help."

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Date published: 11/18/2005