Jasper Group to close St. Anthony Klem plant

Jasper — Jasper Group announced today that it would be moving Klem Furniture Manufacturing from St. Anthony to Jasper as a consolidation move.

According to Jasper Group President Mike Elliott, no employees at the St. Anthony plant will be losing their jobs. “We announced to the employees there that we are moving them, the employees and production, to the Jofco factory on 12th Avenue in Jasper,” Elliott said.

The move from the Klem Manufacturing building in St. Anthony to the former-Jofco building at 305 E. 12th Avenue in Jasper is expected to take three to six months.

The company is already manufacturing JOFCo and Klem Furniture items at the 12th Avenue location, but according to Elliott, they will be moving the JOFCo production from there to another location in Jasper and some to French Lick. “The 12th Avenue location will run all Klem product,” he said.

The move is in response to the high demand for hotel furniture at this time. “We are moving the Klem team to a new and better facility” Elliott said. “We hope to have the move completed by October.”

Jasper Group purchased Klem Furniture Manufacturing November 3o, 2004. Klem specializes in hospitality furniture for the hotel industry.

Jim O’neal, WITZ AM/FM news director, contributed to this report.