By ROD ZOOK
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Thursday's news that KMS Inc. was expanding to Hutchinson and taking over the old Eaton plant was certainly good news.
The company is currently working to get the building ready for occupancy and still hope to be in the facility in the next two to three months.
KMS Inc. was founded in 1976 and is based out of Wichita. The company buys and sells off liquidations and is known to be the largest business of its kind in the country. KMS Inc. also has proven brands such as Cool Living and Warm Living, which include heaters and air conditioners. The company also offers general merchandise from clothing, hardware, and kitchen appliances, according to the company website.
The purchase of the Eaton building certainly gives the company more space, which Vice President of Sales Scott Miller says was needed.
“We’re in the storing business so we needed more space and this worked out for us,” Miller said. “We also do a lot of production work for retailers . . . we needed a place to spread things out and work.”
Interest in the building for KMS began in August when the facility was put up for auction. When the winning bidders of the auction backed out suddenly, efforts began to buy the facility. Company President Tom George was looking for something that could be available for use quickly.
“When he called in August to inquire about the building and started asking questions, we went over to their Wichita office the very next morning,” Chamber President Debra Teufel said.
While KMS will benefit from some tax relief on all renovations and expansion that comes before the building opens again, it was not something the company was heavily pursuing.
"The biggest factor for Tom was speed-to-market," Teufel said. "He wants to get this building on line and making money for the company as soon as he can, so I don't think he wanted to get bogged down in a lot of incentive programs."
The company did ask for a revaluation of the property, which the county has done and should give the company a lower property tax bill.
According to Teufel, the building needed a lot of work and had several other issues that needed to be addressed including the electrical service coming into the facility. She says the company is working to use local contractors for all of the things that need repair. How soon they move in depends on how much work can be done to get the facility ready.
“We are actively working on it now, roofers are out there, boilers, the whole works,” Miller said. “How fast everybody goes, we could be in there before the end of the year.”
Miller says they expect to hire between 20 and 50 workers depending on how much work is brought to Hutchinson.