NACCO Materials Handling Group hires 400 workers

U.S. manufacturing output rose in September and October, according to the Federal Reserve, and it looks like NACCO Materials Handling Group Inc. (NMHG) is doing its part. NMHG, which manufactures the Yale and Hyster brand lift trucks, recently added 401 workers at its Sulligent, Ala.; Berea, Ky.; Greenville, N.C.; and Ramos Arizpe, Mexico, manufacturing plants. The company is also adding third shifts in some areas, and the assembly plants in Berea and Greenville have begun second shifts on some of their painting and assembly lines.

Most of the new hires are former employees who had been laid off when business slowed, said Jonathan Dawley, NMHG's vice president of marketing, in an interview. Not every job can be restored, though. "Every organization has streamlined during the recession, but as capacity starts to increase, we will bring back as many as we can," he said.

Is this a sign of better days to come? "We aren't ready to say that the economy is totally out of the woods yet, but we feel that we are in a solid position to take advantage of the rebound that is occurring," Dawley said in a separate statement.