The upcoming opening of the Alluvian hotel means a lot of work for the management at Viking Range Corp.
But the Greenwood-based company continues to be active in its many other business endeavors at the same time.
At the end of 2002, Viking employed 1,650 people worldwide, including 975 people in Mississippi and about 900 in Greenwood.
In 2002, it expanded its distribution center, which now encompasses more than 41,200 square feet, and its design center, which now has 4,800 square feet.
The cooking products facility was expanded by 80,000 square feet as well.
The distribution center on U.S. 82 holds all Viking products before they are transported to distributorships.
It was expanded to give more space to culinary items and cookware, which Viking wasn't making when the building opened. Growth in Viking's e-marketing business also meant more space would be required for inventory.
The training center, which has been housed in the old Ford building on Main Street for more than a year, now holds 38 sessions in a year and stays busy all the time, says Dorothy Gates, the center's manager.
At these sessions, dealers from all over learn about Viking and the standards for its products. Some are selling Viking for the first time, and others may just need an update on its newest products, she said. Kitchen and bath designers attend as well.
These trainees, who are recommended by Viking distributors for the sessions, tour the local facilities and get a sense of what the Delta is like.
The center trained 1,008 people in 2002 and has trained 3,575 people since it opened in 1998.
Also, a new showroom is in the works, to be housed in the old Custom Kitchens building on Main Street.
It will serve as a model appliance store - a prototype for the displaying of Viking products. Examples will be offered for a variety of items.
The showroom, which is scheduled to be ready in August, also will offer Viking merchandise, such as shirts and hats, exclusively to dealers and distributors.
The office for corporate events and travel, which previously occupied that space, has moved to the Ashcraft building.
A big project in the works outside Greenwood is the Viking technology center near Mississippi State University. It will employ 25 to 30 people, said Dale Persons, vice president for public affairs.
The 35,000-square-foot facility is scheduled to be completed late in 2004.
Other projects are planned down the road, but they won't be announced yet, Persons said.
"We're looking at some other expansions, but right now it's a little premature to announce any of those specifically," he said.
Persons said the company is "always looking for good people" and will hire more employees as the need arises. However, he said, the slow economy makes it difficult to add people now.
Viking's honors in 2002 included the U.S. Department of Commerce's U.S. Commercial Service Export Achievement Award and the Mississippi Heritage Trust Award of Excellence for Outstanding Re-Use of a Large Property.
The latter honor was given for the work on the training center.
