All 14 employees of the plant have been hired by The Lester Group, saving jobs that otherwise would be lost in the Fredericksburg economy. “Masonite Architectural Door Company had planned to close the plant it had operated for four years, and had offered the employees jobs in Florida or New England,” said George W. Lester, II, chair and CEO of The Lester Group. “The employees preferred not to move from Fredericksburg.”
Plant manager Rick Finall will keep the same position with Fortress. Finall, a native of King George, Va., has 37 years experience in manufacturing wood doors.
The 40,000 square foot plant at 218 Central Rd. in Fredericksburg manufactures and pre-finishes commercial architectural doors sold to door companies and construction companies.
The Lester Group, founded in l896 in Martinsville, is a diversified company with primary interests in lumber products and real estate development in Virginia, North Carolina and West Virginia. The Lester Group has owned the Jim Carpenter Co., a full service materials supplier at 1 Joseph Mills Dr. in Fredericksburg, since l974.
In addition, Lester has building materials operations in Manassas, Lynchburg, and Martinsville in Virginia, and in High Point, Henderson and Elizabeth City in North Carolina.
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