Danville beats NC for furniture plant

By Richard Craver
JOURNAL REPORTER

Danville, Va., has beaten out North Carolina for the second time in 16 months in the recruitment of a major furniture plant by a European manufacturer.

Com.40 Ltd., a maker of mattresses and upholstery based in Nowe Skalmierzyce, Poland, said yesterday that it will open a $36.3 million plant in Danville. The plant will be about an 80-minute commute from Forsyth County.


The manufacturer said it would create 813 jobs in an area that had a 6.2 percent unemployment rate in December. Com.40 has about 1,750 employees in Poland.

In October 2016, Danville beat out Lexington in Davidson County to land the first U.S. manufacturing plant of Swedwood, a subsidiary of the Swedish corporation Ikea, and about 740 jobs.

Com.40 also has a connection to Ikea. Its Danville plant will produce mattresses and upholstery to Ikea’s stores in North America.

The Virginia governor’s office said that Danville also beat out sites in Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Texas for the project.

Com.40 will receive $1.5 million from the governor’s Opportunity Fund. The Virginia Tobacco Indemnification and Community Revitalization Commission approved $900,000 in tobacco region opportunity funds. The company also is eligible to receive state benefits from the Virginia Enterprise Zone program.