New owners of Calex to add 60 employees

Former workers and others are being interviewed for jobs.
By DON SHILLING
VINDICATOR BUSINESS EDITOR
CAMPBELL -- A Massillon area manufacturer bought the former Calex Corp. plant and intends to add about 60 workers to its skeleton staff.
Pro-Fab Industries acquired the Wilson Avenue plant earlier this month after leasing it since November to make a limited number of aluminum extrusions.
The previous owner, Gulshan Arora of Wooster, told city officials last September that he was closing the plant because of high natural gas costs. It employed 175 at the time.
Don Williams, founder and president of Pro-Fab, said he stepped in because Calex was one of his suppliers of aluminum extrusions. Williams wanted Calex to continue providing aluminum for some of his company's products, so he agreed to lease the plant.
By then, the Calex work force had been trimmed to 38, so Pro-Fab retained those workers.
Plans
Williams said he will increase production and add workers because the plant will allow Pro-Fab to control the quality and delivery times of its aluminum extrusions.
He said he is evaluating the new plant, which will be called Pro-Fab Extrusions, but he expects to need a little more than 100 workers. The company is interviewing former Calex workers and others.
Williams said the hirings will take several months and added that he will use that time to look at whether it's best to keep the operation at its current location. He declined to be more specific about the possibility of moving but said he has been impressed by the support he has received from Mayor Jack Dill.
Pro-Fab will not have as high a natural gas bill as Calex did because it is discontinuing the smelting line, which created round billets of aluminum that were fed into the extrusion presses, Williams said. Pro-Fab will buy its billets from an outside supplier.
Williams said he is planning an investment to upgrade the presses, though he declined to say how much the company would spend.
Pro-Fab, which is south of Massillon in Mount Eaton, makes a variety of aluminum products, such as doors, building products, car parts and store displays.