LYNCHBURG, Va. — Frito-Lay seems to have a case of the munchies when it comes to expanding in Lynchburg, Va.
        The Plano, Texas-based snack food manufacturer has announced a US$30-million expansion that will add 100 new jobs at its Lynchburg plant.
        The project marks Frito-Lay's second major expansion in the Central Virginia city in less than a year. The company announced a $15-million expansion in June of last year.
        Frito-Lay's latest Lynchburg expansion will add two product lines to the company's 410,000-sq.-ft. (36,900-sq.-m.) plant. Production will begin in six months on Tostitos Scoops, first introduced in the U.S. market in 2000. The second, as-yet-unnamed product will launch in 18 months.
        Lynchburg won the expansion over several other competing states, company officials said. The other finalist sites weren't disclosed at the project announcement.
        "The city of Lynchburg has provided us with great opportunities to maintain our successful operation, and we continue to grow," said Frito-Lay Region Vice President Barbara Buchanan.
        "We're delighted to expand our Lynchburg facility."

Frito-Lay's continued expansions in Lynchburg have increased the plant's current work force to 400 employees. Since opening in 1998, the Lynchburg operation has produced 153 million pounds (69 million kilograms) of snacks.
        "We all hope you continue to eat more, because we can make more," Larry Lighthiser, Frito-Lay's Lynchburg operations manager, said at the project announcement, where the company's snacks were readily available.
        The Lynchburg plant's continuing growth is part of Frito-Lay's strategy to modernize and consolidate U.S. manufacturing and distribution operations. First announced in January of 1999, that strategy includes concentrating chip-making at the company's newer and more technologically advanced plants.
        The Lynchburg manufacturing operation is one of those plants. Other plants in which Frito-Lay is concentrating chip production include new factories in Fayetteville, Tenn.; and Jonesboro, Ark.; as well as older, high-performing plants in Killingly, Conn.; and Perry, Ga.

Gov. Mark Warner approved a $400,000 performance-based grant for the project from the Virginia Investment Partnership. Frito-Lay now has 13 facilities in Virginia, the governor noted at the project announcement.
        "This expansion is great news for the entire Lynchburg region and its skilled work force," Warner said. "Frito-Lay's numerous facilities in our state brand the company as a solid Virginia corporate citizen."
        The Virginia Investment Partnership program provides discretionary cash grants to expanding companies that have been in Virginia at least five years. Qualifying projects must meet certain other criteria - one of them being that Virginia is facing out-of-state competition for the expansion.
        The 100 new jobs will go toward meeting the performance-based criteria for the $10.5-million state and local incentive package that Frito-Lay was awarded when it first decided to come to Lynchburg. Those incentives require the company to hire 700 workers and invest $125 million at its Lynchburg manufacturing operation by December of 2006.
        "When Frito-Lay first came to Lynchburg in 1998, we were expecting great things," said Lynchburg Mayor Carl Hutcherson Jr. "We have not been disappointed."

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HUNTINGTON, N.Y. — BAE Systems is expanding its operations on Long Island, adding 148 jobs in Huntington, N.Y.
        The new positions will be added in the company's Advanced Systems business unit. Advanced Systems already employs some 350 workers at BAE Systems' Greenlawn campus in Huntington. The 150 new jobs will be added over the next three years after the $19-million, 475,000 sq.-ft. (42,750-sq.-m.) renovation is completed, company officials said.
        "The vision and values of BAE Systems made it clear that working with New York state, Suffolk County and the town of Huntington would be beneficial to our site and employees in Greenlawn," said BAE Advanced Systems President Ray Daugherty. "We are delighted to participate in this partnership and to help maintain Long Island's reputation as a source of innovative technology. BAE Systems is proud of its deep roots in this community."

The expansion announcement comes as BAE Systems is co-locating its two Long Island operations. The process involves moving the company's Reconnaissance and Surveillance Systems unit from its current base in Syosset. Reconnaissance and Surveillance Systems will co-locate its operation with Advanced Systems on the Greenlawn campus in Huntington.
        The two Long Island units, which develop electronic identification devices and infrared navigational systems, currently employ some 650 people. All of those positions will be retained after the co-location is completed, according to company officials.
        The expansion project is eligible for a $1-million capital grant from Empire State development, state officials said.
        "BAE Systems' investment in Long Island speaks volumes about New York state's outstanding work force and dramatically improved business climate," Gov. George Pataki said. "This announcement reaffirms the fact that our smart economic policies have made New York state a far more attractive and competitive place to do business and create new job opportunities."
        The governor also noted the state's No. 3 finish in Site Selection's 2001 Governor's Cup race, which is analyzed in the March issue. (For further details, see "And the Winner Is . . . Illinois!")
        "New York state just received its strongest ranking ever in Site Selection magazine - a clear sign that our $100 billion in tax cuts, expanded Empire Zones, and other smart economic policies have established an outstanding environment for private-sector investment and new job creation," Pataki said.

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JACKSON, Tenn. — UGN has picked a West Tennessee location for its fourth U.S. plant. A joint venture between Japan's Nihon Tokushu Toryo and Switzerland's Rieter Automotive Systems, UGN has picked a 25-acre (10-hectare) site in Jackson, Tenn., for its new operation, which will manufacture automotive soundproofing. The 150,000-sq.-ft. (13,500-sq.-m.) plant will be located in Tiger Jones Technology Park and will employ as many as 200 workers, UGN officials said.
        UGN decided to locate a fourth plant in the United States after reaching an agreement to manufacture Rieter Ultra Light soundproofing for all U.S.-made Toyota and Lexus vehicles. In the longer term, UGN plans on also manufacturing the material for other Japanese auto companies that have established North American operations.
        "The award of the acoustic business for future Toyota and Lexus vehicles, combined with UGN's expectation to eventually service all of our North American Japanese transplant customers, validates the great contributions UGN brings to the automotive market," said UGN President and CEO Gary Jamison. "Establishing a fourth manufacturing plant in Jackson, Tenn., shows our commitment to continue providing innovative quality products to the Japanese transplant automobile industry."

Rieter Ultra Light was used last fall for the first time by a Japanese automotive company in North America. The material made its North American debut in the 2002 Lexus ES 300. Unlike insulated products that deflect sound, Rieter Ultra Light uses multi-layered materials that absorb sound.
        The West Tennessee plant will join UGN's other manufacturing operations in Chicago; Chicago Heights, Ill.; and Valparaiso, Ind. The Chicago-based company also has an engineering, design and testing center in Farmington Hills, Mich.
        UGN's newest production addition in Jackson will open in late 2002 or early 2003, company officials said.
        The new operation won't be the West Tennessee city's first Toyota connection. Araco Corp., which makes seats exclusively for Toyota, last summer announced a U.S. joint venture with Johnson Controls that's based in Jackson. In addition to being the enterprise's headquarters base, Jackson is also the chosen location for the Araco/Johnson Controls joint venture's $30-million-plus operation producing metal auto parts. Like UGN, the Araco/Johnson Controls chose a site in Tiger Jones Technology Park.