Cash Waggner and Associates purchases empty JOFCO building

Jasper — Cash Waggner and Associates purchased the empty JOFCO/Jasper Seating building on Friday.

The building at 402 East 13th Street has been empty since August when JOFCO administrative offices moved out of the building. JOFCO merged with Jasper Group in January of this year. There has been no furniture production in the building for at least ten years.

The company opened its doors in 1929 as Jasper Seating Company, producing high quality seating products for office, school and institutions. In 2008, after 79 years in business, a name change to Jasper Group reflected the wide spectrum of product offering included in its brand portfolio.

Andy Welsh with Welsh Realty Corp brokered the deal between Jasper Group and Cash Waggner and Associates.

Cash Waggner and Associates is an engineering and planning firm established in Jasper in 2005 by Calvin Cash, president, and Nathan Waggner, vice-president. They currently employ 13 people between their Jasper and Evansville offices in positions as licensed engineers, surveyors, draftsmen and administrative personnel.

Cash Waggner will be relocating their office from Third Avenue in Jasper to the offices of the former-JOFCO building after completing some renovations of the office section of the approximately 300,000 square foot building. According to Calvin Cash, president of Cash Waggner, the company plans on utilizing the larger office space to expand it current staff of 20 employees.

Cash was not willing to release firm details of the company’s plans for the rest of the industrial space, but did say they planned on continuing renovation of the space and will utilize it for storage. “There will be quite a few repairs to the building,” Calvin said. “There are a lot of hours and hard work ahead of us, but we are looking forward to it.”

Mayor Terry Seitz commented that the expansion of Industrial Technologies, the opening of Monster Recycling and the Jasper Chair expansion along Vine Street is positive news for the blighted industrial area. “Things have evolved rather rapidly,” Mayor Seitz said. “We have had a building torn down to accommodate Jasper Chair’s recent expansion. Todd Fromme has expanded to two buildings and then we have Monster Recycling opening.”

“It is entrepreneur driven and it kinda fits the Jasper mold,” he concluded

“We have been here for eight years,” Cash said. “We like it and we want to be a part of Jasper.”