VICTORVILLE, CA-United Furniture Industries, a manufacturer of furniture sold under the Simmons brand name, has signed a lease with Stirling Capital Investments to occupy 505,192 square feet of a one-million-square foot industrial building at Southern California Logistics Centre. Stirling developed the building in 2009 in a move to attract businesses like UFI that need space more quickly than the ground-up development process. The remainder of the space in the building is leased to another tenant.
The SCLC facility will serve as the West Coast manufacturing and distribution center for UFI, a Mississippi-based company, to serve its Southern California and Western US markets. The firm plans to immediately hire 100 people and grow to approximately 400 employees within the next 36 to 48 months.
“UFI will begin the process of local staff development in mid October. We plan to complete a soft opening of manufacturing and distribution operations in November. We expect our employment to exceed 100 people early in the first quarter of 2012,” said Bob Cottam, spokesperson for UFI, in an announcement regarding the lease.
Brian Parno, chief operating officer of Stirling Development, the managing partner of Stirling Capital Investments, noted that, over the past 12 months, more than 500 jobs have been created at SCLC.
The County of San Bernardino’s Department of Workforce Development will assist UFI in hiring. A job fair will be advertised in the local press in October. Additionally, UFI has hired a private consultant from the region to aid the firm during this hiring and staffing process, and develop a work force in the High Desert.
Cottam further stated, “UFI has a history of making every effort possible to procure goods and services in the local communities where we have a manufacturing presence." He said that UFI "conducted an exhaustive search throughout the six western states" and chose Victorville for its quality of available space, attractive work force, a pro-business atmosphere and the proximity to major West Coast markets.
Joseph Brady of the Bradco Cos. represented UFI in the transaction. Stirling was represented by Jay Dick and Mark Latimer of CB Richard Ellis.
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