United States. Lennox International announced it plans to rebuild after its marshalltown, Iowa, facility was directly hit by a destructive tornado on July 19, officials said.
This development does not affect Lennox Global or its latin American operations.
In a statement, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds said she met with Doug Young, Lennox's president and chief operating officer, who outlined his commitment to the Marshall County city and its rebuilding plans.
"Make no mistake, we have a lot of work ahead of us," the governor said. "Lennox wants its qualified employees, which the company values highly, to get back to work, support local businesses and help with recovery throughout the community."
Marshalltown Mayor Joel Greer said he expected the reconstruction to cost more than $100 million, a figure that could not be confirmed by company officials. The company hired a nationally known disaster contractor to assess the damage, he said.
Since the tornado, Greer said his biggest fear has been the possibility that Lennox won't choose to rebuild. After he officially announced the plans at a city council meeting Monday night, he expressed comfort and told the Des Moines Registry, "Life is good."
Following the impact of the tornado, the company released an official statement saying that "our first priority is to ensure the safety of our employees, and we are pleased that there have been no reports of injuries," said President and CEO Todd Bluedorn. "Second, it's our commitment to serving our customers. An advantage of owning our own distribution network in North America is that we have a supply of more than 40 days of equipment in more than 235 distribution centers and stores ready to support our customers in the field Beyond that, more than 75 percent of our North American residential equipment units are manufactured at our facilities in Mexico and South Carolina, and that equipment is set to increase when Marshalltown recovers. Since the company's founding 123 years ago in Marshalltown, the Lennox team has worked together to support each other, the community and our loyal customers, and will continue to do so through this challenge."
Source: Des moines Register.
