TUPELO, Miss. (WTVA) - Tecumseh Products Company officials joined local and state leaders at a meeting Wednesday morning to announce the company's new investment in its plant located in Verona.
The maker of compressors and other parts for residential and commercial refrigeration and also for air conditioning systems has been part of Lee County for more than 30 years.
Now, with the addition of new equipment, company officials say they hope to continue to stay here for years to come.
Joe Kulovitz, General Manager of Tecumseh Products Company, said, "The goal right now is for sustainment. We want to keep what we have in place, improve that, and hopefully become more competitive so we can grow the business down the road."
Company officials did not say exactly how much the investment in upgrades is.
However, they call it significant and the largest amount invested in some time.
Kulovitz said, "We're improving our productivity, our quality from the stand point of modern equipment and a trained work force. With those things in mind, that will hopefully make us competitive from a cost standpoint to where we can compete with the stuff coming from overseas and hopefully grow the business here in Tupelo."
State and local leaders talked about how growing existing companies is key to a healthy overall economy.
Skip Scaggs with the Mississippi Development Authority said, "Existing industry is the lifeblood of any community. They're the ones that provide the existing tax base or foundation for the local economy."
Lee County Supervisor Joe McKinney said, "I think the significance of this is the fact Tecumseh believes in our area to invest and reinvest in our area in Lee County."
The state and county provided thousands of dollars in an incentives package to make the company investment happen.
Improvement work at the plant is already underway.
