Reprinted with permission from
The Courier=Times Online

The announcement by Mark Line Industries, headquartered in Bristol, Ind., revealed for the first time publicly the identity of the company whose interest in the Fleetwood property at 455 Lucy Garrett Rd. caused the Person Board of County Commissioners last month to abruptly halt efforts to buy and renovate the Fleetwood plant for a Person County Schools school bus garage and maintenance facility and sent the Person County Board of Education searching anew for a bus garage site. >>

In a press release Tuesday, Mark Line said it had signed an agreement with Fleetwood Enterprises to buy the Fleetwood plant here, hoped to complete the deal in July and be in production in August with “a handful of key employees.”

The company has manufacturing facilities in Bristol, Ind., where its corporate offices also are based, and in Ephrata, Pa.

Mark Line, which will observe the 38th anniversary of its founding on June 25, manufactures mobile and modular buildings for a variety of uses, including school classrooms, offices, jails, day care centers and financial institutions.

In a prepared statement in the release, Mark Line President John Catalino complimented Person County officials for altering their earlier plans for the property to accommodate Mark Line’s location in the county.

“Working with Glen Newsome, executive director of the Person County [Economic] Development Commission has been a pleasure,” Catalino said. “The Fleetwood facility was best suited for our needs and when we heard that the Person County Board of Education had an agreement to purchase the building we were disheartened. However, the Board of County Commissioners and others involved were quick to recognize that the opportunity to bring jobs to the community was enough of a value that they were willing to step back from the project, allowing us to go forward with the purchase from Fleetwood. We couldn’t be more pleased with the level of cooperation we have been afforded by all the parties concerned.”

Explaining the company’s initial plans, Catalino added, “We anticipate that the purchase transaction will be completed mid-July, at which time we will begin the hiring process that will support our start up. Our goal is to be in production in August starting with a handful of key employees. Eventually we could employ 100 or more local employees; this assumes that the demand for our products remains as strong as it has been in recent years. We are excited about becoming a part of the Roxboro community and look forward to getting started.”

Commenting on the development, the EDC’s Newsome said Tuesday, “We welcome Mark Line

as the newest member of our corporate community and greatly appreciate the company's selection of Roxboro and Person County as the host location for this new industrial operation. Everyone associated with the company has been excellent to work with, and they are putting great emphasis on hiring local contractors and local people.

“In addition to the creation of over 100 new job opportunities,” Newsome said, “Mark Line will also be making a significant investment in the Fleetwood facility to upgrade it to the production standards of the company. This is an excellent industrial location which further diversifies the economic base of our community. We look forward to continuing our relationship with Mark Line to bring this project to full fruition for the company and the community."

Newsome confirmed to The Courier-Times that Fleetwood Enterprises has returned the $50,000 in earnest money that Person County government sent Fleetwood when the county was poised to buy the property for use as the school bus facility at a cost to the county of $1.2 million. The deal seemed all but certain to go through until mid-May when rumors began circulating that an industrial prospect was interested in the Fleetwood property as well. County officials then suddenly went mum. Commissioners issued no public statement regarding any change in plans, EDC Director Newsome said only that he could “neither confirm nor deny” the rumors. And County Manager Steve D. Carpenter said cryptically, “It has always been a goal of the county to try to see if it can help its citizens achieve self-sufficiency, and jobs is a part of that.”

Until Mark Line’s announcement Tuesday, the only official confirmation that the county would not be buying the Fleetwood property after all came more or less by default when the county school board convened later in May to discuss where to turn next for a new bus garage/maintenance facility.

But that situation, too, could be closer to resolution, as both the school board and county commissioners recently have conducted closed sessions to discuss prospective property acquisition. Officials have been reluctant to publicly discuss details but have acknowledged that a potential development is being explored.

Meantime, Mark Line did not disclose the purchase price it will pay to acquire the Fleetwood property, which encompasses 21.65 acres and is valued in excess of $2 million on county tax books.

Mark Line Industries was founded by L. M. (Mike) Arnold in Bristol, Ind. and began operations on June 25, 1968, manufacturing mobile offices for the construction industry, according to the company’s Web site. The company’s production has evolved since to the manufacture of both permanent and re-locatable modular buildings for commercial, institutional and governmental uses. Mark Line structures are as small as 25-square-foot in-plant offices to single- and multi-story buildings exceeding 50,000 square feet.