NEW ON THE BUSINESS SCENE: NEW FIRM AT ADVANCE

Playpower, a company that manufactures playground equipment, will expand to Advance.

The new industry will employ 35 people initially, and up to 100 over the next two to five years.

This is a big boost for a community that has seen the loss of two industries in the past year, said Jim Rainey, vice president of the Advance Improvement Corporation. Both Paramount Headwear and Advance Fabrication have recently closed.

The Advance Improvement Corporation has been working with Playpower for more than a year.

Rainey said that Playpower had purchased the 100,000-square foot building which previously housed Advance Fabrication. The building includes manufacturing space, office space and about 25,000 square feet of warehouse space.

The company, headquartered at Monett, Mo., is looking to an early 1997 start at the Advance facility. It will manufacture water slides and fiberglass slides for parks at the Advance plant.