ACCO expansion celebrated
in Prentiss County
Published Friday, April 11
By Kenny Goode
For the Daily Corinthian

BOONEVILLE -- Thursday, April 10 was a red-letter day for Booneville and Prentiss County that will long be remembered as its largest employer celebrated a $55-million expansion with a variety of festivities.

ACCO Brands Corporation, a world leader in branded office products, held a grand opening ceremony that included dignitaries from across the state and beyond, including Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour.

An estimated 600 persons were present.

The ACCO project has created an additional 330 jobs and will enable the company to more efficiently distribute and manufacture its broad range of office products, as well as better serve its customers.

The Booneville facility will be the company's key distribution center in the southeast and its principal manufacturing site in North America for presentation boards sold under the Quartet® brand. The company will also manufacture binders at the site.

Speakers at the event, in addition to the governor, were Mississippi Representative and Speaker Billy McCoy of Thrasher; ACCO Brands Chairman and Chief Executive Officer David D. Campbell; ACCO Brands President and Chief Operating Officer, Office Products Group, Dennis Chandler; Booneville Mayor Roger K. Smith and Prentiss County Board of Supervisors President Mike Huddleston.

"The expansion of the Booneville facility is a strategically significant investment in our operating platform to better serve our customers throughout the southeast and across the United States," said David D. Campbell, chairman and chief executive officer of ACCO Brands Corporation.

"We've created a modern, paperless distribution center that is in greater proximity to our customers, which will help reduce operating and shipping costs."

Campbell also said ACCO now operates in over 100 countries globally. Gov. Barbour's flight was 20 minutes late due to the rough weather. "It was rough and windy and bounced us around pretty good."

Regarding the ACCO event, the governor stated, "This is another solid investment in Mississippi by one of our state's most outstanding corporate citizens, and I am very pleased this latest ACCO Brands expansion is taking place at the company's Booneville manufacturing and distribution facility.

The expansion is the result of good partnerships that are helping put many Mississippians to work at very good jobs, making our economy stronger."

Barbour added it was also a pleasure to know that the ACCO expansion caused a number of transfers of jobs to Booneville from Mexico -- an exact opposite of the usual trend.

The governor emphasized the economic situation is good in the state presently, with much of the growth in north Mississippi. He said there are more people working in the state now than ever with over 60,000 more jobs now than four years ago.

"It's good now and it's going to get better. We are going to keep our foot on the accelerator and keep it going," he added, referring to more growth in the employment arena.

He concluded by stating, "Job creation is a team sport and we had an outstanding team in this (ACCO) project."

His comments were applauded with a standing ovation.

Also speaking at the event was Mississippi's Speaker of the House, Rep. Billy McCoy, who said the state had had improvements in highways, education, health care, law enforcement protection and added, "We can't let economic development be status quo either." He too, was honored with a standing ovation.

A variety of other dignitaries were in attendance for the ceremony, including state and local elected officials; state and local officials from organizations such as the Tennessee Valley Authority, the Mississippi Development Authority and others; ACCO Brands senior executives; and nearly 500 Booneville facility employees.

"This grand opening marks the culmination of a two-year private and public partnership that has helped create 330 new jobs and will cultivate significant economic growth within Booneville and the surrounding area for years to come," said Dennis Chandler, ACCO Brands president and chief operating officer, Office Products Group. "We're proud to make Booneville our home for what has now become ACCO Brands' key distribution center in the southeast."

A $2.4 million grant was provided by the federal Economic Development Administration for the expansion, in addition to grants from the Mississippi Development Authority. The new facility has more than one million square feet of manufacturing and warehouse space after major renovations to existing buildings and the construction of three new structures.

Approximately 800 employees at the site are working in manufacturing, customer service functions as well as the new distribution activities -- which actually began earlier that week.

Booneville Mayor Roger K. Smith said, "We, the City of Booneville, wish to thank ACCO Brands for selecting Booneville as the city in which this major investment has been made. We know there was competition for this project and we think you made a great choice. ACCO Brands is giving to our community an opportunity that will provide economic growth for years to come. In addition to manufacturing, Booneville and Prentiss County are now the location of ACCO Brands' very successful Customer Service Center. This speaks well for the available work force not only in Booneville and Prentiss County but also for northeast Mississippi."

The mayor also thanked Gov. Barbour for what he termed his "dogmatic attitude" in supporting the expansion of ACCO. Mike Huddleston, president of the Prentiss County Board of Supervisors said the grand opening of ACCO's new facility will hopefully provide "a ripple effect throughout the region for years to come. And he added the Prentiss County Board of Supervisors is committed to economic development. Active in giving back to the community, ACCO had earlier announced a $14,000 contribution to purchase new playground equipment for the Eastside and Westside parks in Booneville. ACCO also sponsors Booneville's annual Easter Egg hunt where 350 children participated at the most recent event.

Thursday's grand opening closed with a symbolic launch of 800 ACCO Brands balloons -- each one representing an employee at the Booneville facility.

About ACCO Brands Corporation

ACCO Brands Corporation is a world leader in select categories of branded office products, with annual revenues of nearly $2 billion. Its industry-leading brands include Day-Timer®, Swingline®, Kensington®,
Quartet®, GBC®, Rexel, NOBO and Wilson Jones®, among others. Under the GBC brand, the company is also a leader in the professional print finishing market.

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