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NACOM honors CMS grads

The largest-ever Certified Manufacturing Specialist class graduated March 29 at a ceremony at Griffin Technical College. The 117 grads were employees of NACOM, which does plastic injection molding, electronic printed circuit board assembly, junction box assembly and metal stamping at its Griffin facility.

John Olson, VP and general manager, addressed some 1,000 family members, friends and co-workers. “NACOM is not a building,” he said. “It is not a group of machines. It is a community of associates committed to the common good, helping each other achieve our very best.”

“Education is a gift,” he said, and to prove his word, NACOM gave each graduate a personal computer in appreciation of his or her accomplishment. “This gift ... is to help you with the next step of your dream.”

In a $32 million expansion, Fuji Vegetable Oil (FVO) is building a facility to accommodate a new, highly automated processing line at its Savannah operation. The 55,000-sq.-ft. plant will add 18 workers, who will receive training from Quick Start and Savannah Technical College.

The new facility will process, blend and fractionate specialty vegetable oil products — like locally grown sunflower seeds. The end product is a cocoa butter alternative for use by chocolate makers.

The plant is being built adjacent to Fuji’s existing facility, which makes cooking oils and specialty fats for candy, cakes, cookies, snacks and ice cream. Customers include Nestle, Hershey, Mars, Cadbury, Frito-Lay, Tom’s Foods and Maruchan Ramen Noodle Soups.

FVO is the North and South American marketing and manufacturing subsidiary of Japan-based Fuji Oil Co. Ltd. Several officials from the parent company traveled from Osaka to attend the February groundbreaking ceremony.