NEW AND EXPANDED OPERATIONS AT BLUFF, PERRYVILLE TO ADD JOBS

PERRYVILLE -- "Help Wanted: Taking applications for "On Call" factory workers."

Solar Press, a manufacturer of direct mail inserts, is looking for part-time workers at the present time.

"On Call" workers are called to work on an "as needed" basis explained a spokesman for the Perryville Solar Press operation. "This type of work is attractive to students, housewives, and other people who are looking for part-time employment."

Some of the part-time work could turn into full-time at a later date as the firm is looking to a third straight expansion project which will added a 60,000 square foot addition and create 60 new jobs.

Solar Press, which is headquartered in Naperville, Ill., has been accepted for a MO Bucks for More Jobs loan.

Solar Press used a low-interest, MO Bucks loan to create 100 new jobs in 19088, and again in 1990, when the company expanded to create 85 new position.

The latest MO Bucks presentation was made to Solar Press a week ago at the Perryville plant.

The Solar Press expansion is one of three "good (business) news" items which emerged in Southeast Missouri during the week.

Another Perryville firm, Sabreliner Corp., received word from the U.S. Army that it had been "certified" for the Army's T53 engine testing capabilities.

In the southern part of the region, officials Officials at the Smiley Container Corp. on Thursday announced plans to build a new plant and double its work force at Poplar Bluff.

The Army's certification of Sabreliner's new engine test cell at Perryville will allow the company to start fulfilling it contract to rebuild and test up to 400 UH-1 "Huey" helicopter engines.

T53 contract deliveries are scheduled to start in May of 1991 at Sabreliner's Perryville facility. Sabreliner will tear down, repair, rebuild, test and deliver 100 T53 engines through April of 1992. The contract has second and third-year options, which can result in a total of 400 engines.

Sabreliner dedicated its new engine test cell last August. The cell is the first non-military engine testing facility equipped with Howell Instrument Company's Automated Engine Data Acquisition Testing System (AEDATS). It can test engine performance on a wide variety of turboshaft, turboprop, and turbojet engines.

Sabreliner Corp., headquartered at St. Louis, is a diversified service, modification and manufacturing company that supports a variety of military, government and commercial aircraft, engines, systems and components.

The Smiley Container Corp., which is owned by Ward Paper Box Co., a subsidiary of Kansas City-based Russell Stover Candies, makes boxes for major candy brands such as Whitman's, Brach's and Fanny Farmer.

The announcement of the Poplar Bluff expansion came Thursday, during a ceremony attended by Gov. John Ashcroft at the Greater Poplar Bluff Area Chamber of Commerce.

A crowd of more than 100 persons gathered at the Greater Poplar Bluff Area Chamber of Commerce building on West Pine Boulevard for the announcement.

The new plant will be built at the Poplar Bluff Industrial Park and will employ about 400 people.

Smiley's present plant, with about 70,000 square feet, is located on the west bank of the Black River near the intersection of Second and Cedar streets. The company also rents a 60,000-square-foot storage building in the Service Industrial Park. It currently employs about 170 persons. Since the expansion plans will put the company's operation under one roof, officials said they probably eventually will sell their current plant.Ward Paper Box, based in Kansas City, will mark the grand opening of a new plant in Butler, Mo., on Friday. That plant's 50 employees make boxes for Hallmark Cards Inc. and the Stuart Hall Stationery Co.