On The Move
Shutterfly expands East Coast manufacturing operations with new facility in York County
Sep 21, 2012
Investment expected to create new jobs over three years
COLUMBIA
SC - September 21, 2012 - Shutterfly Inc. (NASDAQ:SFLY), a leading
Internet-based social expression and personal publishing service,
announced it will triple its East Coast manufacturing operations with a
new state-of-the-art production facility in Fort Mill.
Responding
to significant business growth, this expansion will increase
Shutterfly’s photo-product East Coast operations footprint to 300,000
total square feet. The new facility is scheduled to open in the second
quarter of 2013 and the existing Charlotte, N.C., manufacturing space
will be fully operational until that time. With the new facility located
less than 10 miles from the company’s current location, Shutterfly
expects to retain existing employees while creating new jobs during the
next three years. This expansion builds on Shutterfly’s commitment to
U.S.-based operations, as the company maintains all manufacturing
domestically.
“I am extremely proud that we are able to retain
the employees working in our Charlotte facility while adding new jobs
and expanding our manufacturing foot print,” said Jeffrey Housenbold,
president and CEO of Shutterfly. “Fort Mill is an ideal location for its
proximity to our employees and the new talented local labor pool.”
The
Fort Mill facility will house a portion of production and customer
service personnel for Shutterfly’s four brands: Shutterfly, Tiny Prints,
Wedding Paper Divas and Treat. While Shutterfly manufacturing is not
new to the eastern U.S., the customer service center in Fort Mill will
be the first East Coast customer service presence for Shutterfly.
“We
are committed to providing our customers the highest quality
experiences and products to help them capture, preserve and share their
precious memories,” said Housenbold. “Expanding our manufacturing
facilities is critical to ensuring we are able to respond to increasing
demand and deliver the best to our growing customer base.”
“It’s
a great day in South Carolina when a well-known company like Shutterfly
chooses to put down roots in our state. We celebrate Shutterfly’s
decision to bring more than 600 jobs to Fort Mill. Today’s announcement
is another win for the Palmetto State and shows we’re on the right track
with our economic development efforts,” said Gov. Nikki Haley.
Since
January 2011, South Carolina has recruited more than $7 billion in
capital investment and more than 17,000 jobs in the manufacturing
sector.
“I am grateful to Shutterfly for bringing new skilled
jobs to South Carolina”, said Robert Hitt, South Carolina Secretary of
Commerce. “We worked closely with Shutterfly and supported their efforts
to secure a facility that could accommodate their rapid growth and
existing employee population.”
York County Council Chairman
Britt Blackwell said, “York County has positioned itself to take
advantage of diverse opportunities for office, distribution and
manufacturing investment. Shutterfly’s operation combines all three of
these activities and will create significant immediate and future job
opportunities for our citizens. Adding such a technologically-advanced
company to our growing list of international businesses is a testament
to York County’s ability to compete in the global arena.”
Shutterfly,
the market leader in online photo products and services, currently
serves millions of customers who store more than 15 billion photos in
Shutterfly’s cloud service. More are expected with recent acquisitions
of Kodak Gallery, Photoccino and Penguin Digital, as well as the launch
of Shutterfly’s fourth lifestyle brand and forthcoming mobile app,
Treat, which serves the multi-billion one-to-one greeting card market.
Additionally, the new facility will increase Shutterfly's speed and
efficiency in producing and shipping the company's award-winning
products such as photo books, holiday cards and personalized stationery.
In
addition to future positions in Fort Mill, Shutterfly is actively
recruiting for several key positions in the areas of manufacturing,
engineering and customer service. For more information on job
opportunities please visit: www.shutterfly.com/jobs.
About Shutterfly
Founded
in 1999, Shutterfly Inc. is an Internet-based social expression and
personal publishing company and operates Shutterfly.com, Tiny
Prints.com, Treat.com and Weddingpaperdivas.com. Shutterfly provides
high quality products and world class services that make it easy,
convenient and fun for consumers to preserve their digital photos in a
creative and thoughtful manner. Shutterfly's flagship product is its
award-winning photo book line, which helps consumers celebrate memories
and tell their stories in professionally bound coffee table books.
Shutterfly was recently named one of the top 25 Best Midsized Companies
to Work For by the Great Place to Work Institute. More information about
Shutterfly (NASDAQ:SFLY - News) is available at www.shutterfly.com. Shutterfly and Shutterfly.com are trademarks of Shutterfly Inc.
About S.C. Department of Commerce
As
South Carolina’s leading economic development agency, the Department of
Commerce works to recruit new businesses and help existing businesses
grow. Commerce won the Gold Shovel Award and the Project of Year Award
from Area Development magazine in 2012. Commerce has been part of
recruiting world-class companies to South Carolina such as Boeing,
Bridgestone, Continental, Monster.com, Heinz, ZF Group, BMW and Google
Inc. Commerce also supports small and existing business, rural
development initiatives and offers grants for community development. For
more information, visit www.SCcommerce.com.
