Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Council updated on PRI

Hari Chandra, owner of Prescott Rubber, Inc., said there is plenty going on at the plant.

He said this to an overflow crowd at the November meeting of the Prescott City Council.

Chandra gave some background on PRI, saying he first came to Prescott in 1998 at the invitation of Firestone. Firestone was throwing away scrap rubber, but Chandra had developed a technique for reclaiming it and turning it back into virgin rubber.

The city, he said, helped get the money together and put up a building. Ground for the new plant was broken in 2002. However, because of weather problems the building was delayed. The company moved in during 2004 and is now doing work for Firestone.

Production, Chandra said, is on track and PRI has a substantial order from Firestone and other companies. However, before the company could get into full production, there were wiring problems for the machinery. But, the plant will be hiring between seven and 10 people in February, and is currently taking applications for these jobs.

We have the potential for growth, Chandra said.

At this time, PRI can only produce 160,000 pounds of rubber monthly, but has orders for more than 1 million pounds per month. We estimate hiring between 75-100 in six months or so, he said. Were glad were here. We like this place.

When questioned, Chandra explained PRI makes more than rubber mats, and has plans to do tire refitting at some point in the future.

The company, he told the Council, wants the old Funshine Furniture building when its more capable of satisfying its customers. Currently, PRI us using the Funshine plant to store materials.

We hope to be as big an employer as Firestone and Potlatch, he said. We are waiting on a couple of machines from Malaysia, but have had some cash flow problems. Weve been unable to generate revenue.

Chandra has a 400,000 square foot plant in Nashville, Tenn., as well as a plant in Ohio. Once this catches on, he said, the sales volume will be huge. We recycle used rubber and can beat the Chinese on price and can export the product to Asia. The company will be able to export to Asia because of its Malaysian connections.

We hope to get in production after Christmas, he said. Maybe we can have a meeting out there.

From there, the council voted to approve a settlement for $25,000 on a sexual harassment suit brought against the city and Prescott Police Department by former officer Kelly Lee.

Lee filed suit, but settled out of court.

Taylor said the city has been working on the electric contract, but it hasnt been finalized. The Arkansas Electric Cooperative has been working with Entergy on transmission problems.

The city, he said, needs to have an ordinance in place ready to adopt so when the rates go up in January. We know the minimum rate will go up 18 percent, and hope to get this resolved. If not, there could be as much or more of an increase.

Mary Godwin, executive director of the Prescott-Nevada County Chamber of Commerce, updated the Council on the Chambers Christmas plans.

At this point beautification for the year is done, except for some final mowing and weed eating, and all planned projects are done.

Right Choice Rental has added a Radio Shack to its store, she said, and its a welcome addition to Prescott.

The Christmas parade and Christmas on the Square will be Thursday, Dec. 8, with the parade starting at 6 oclock, and merging into Christmas on the Square, where a full slate of entertainment has been scheduled. The evening, she said, will end with the snowball avalanche.

Donnie Crain, executive director of the Prescott-Nevada County Economic Development Office, said hes been busy during his first week on the job, and theres been a lot of activity.

The Class of 2005 Leadership Nevada County will graduate on Dec. 13, with the new class introduced.

Crain said hes been looking for grants and hopes to find some for recreational activities. At this point, he has information on an energy efficiency grant only available to ACE communities.

He has also been working to update the EDO website to make sure the information it contains is accurate and helpful to potential prospects.

Efforts are also underway on the walking trail project. Crain said he has been working with a landscape architect and Marlar Engineering and, hopefully, there should be evidence of progress soon.

Under old business, Taylor said the city is taking applications for a new police chief through Dec. 2. We have four or five now.