The West Virginia company's expansion into Zephyrhills is expected to bring 100 jobs.
By MELIA BOWIE
Published October 23, 2004
ZEPHYRHILLS - One of the nation's largest fiberglass pool builders soon will plunge into Pasco County's manufacturing market.
Composite Pool Corp. is coming to Zephyrhills. Based in Jane Lew, W.Va., the company's expansion into Pasco is valued at about $4-million, say local economic leaders.
The move will create about 100 jobs, said Bryan Kamm with Pasco's Economic Development Council. The company intends to hire locally and in phases, said Stacey Nelson, Composite Pool Corp.'s marketing director.
The new positions will include manufacturing, shipping office and clerical jobs that include benefits.
Nelson said pay ranges are still being determined. Pasco's current average annual salary is about $23,480.
Still, Mary Jane Stanley - president of Pasco's EDC - said "they should qualify for some state incentives because of the level of jobs."
Composite Pool Corp. recently bought an 11-acre site in east Pasco to relieve "overload" at its Jane Lew facility, said Nelson. The new site in Zephyrhills will house both sales and manufacturing operations.
The property includes a 25,000-square-foot building just off County Road 54 that Composite bought from East Pasco Commerce Park last month, according to property records. Activity there could start in a couple weeks, said Kamm. Another building also might be in the works.
The company plans to begin limited manufacturing in Zephyrhills in the first part of 2005, Nelson said.
"Within a few years CPC anticipates (the) new Florida location will become (our) national headquarters with the largest, most advanced facility in the world," she added.
Composite Pool is owned by both European and American investors. Its backers include members of the Stahl family, who in 1975 founded Viking Pools of California - a competitor of Composite.
Viking is being featured this month on ABC's Emmy-nominated Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.
And though the firms are rivals in the fiberglass market, Composite's growth still is good news for Todd Stahl, Viking's vice president.
"We're very excited about it," he said of the Pasco expansion.
In an industry dominated by concrete and vinyl-lined pools, Composite specializes in building inground fiberglass pools, as well as spas. The advantage of the fiberglass pool is its ease and efficiency of installation, dealers say.
Instead of being built on site, fiberglass pools are preconstructed and can be delivered.
The models offer durability and quick installation. However, critics say drawbacks are pool sizes and shapes that are limited by shipping constraints.
But that is changing, said Nelson. "As technology advances (so do) the sizes, shapes and dimensions of the pools."
As for shipping issues, that was part of Pasco's appeal. The county "is centrally located and is a good strategic location," Nelson said, adding "the quality of the work force ... was also a determining factor."
