Nathan Wooten, proprietor of Trenton transportation companies MaDex Associates Inc. and River Run Logistics, announced this morning he had completed the purchase of the old Shaw Industries building on North Main Street in Trenton, which has stood mostly unoccupied since Shaw left town in 2006. The property consists of 190,000 square feet of warehouse and office space and sits on 19 acres.
(Photo: Nathan Wooten at one of the Dade Small Business Expos he stages each year.)
The building opened as a factory in 1969 and under the name Evans Cork Company, later changing to Evans & Black. It was purchased by Shaw Industries Inc. of Dalton as part of the company's regional expansion in the 1990s. The Trenton location was a primary provider of polyester fiber converted into yarn for use at many of the other Shaw carpet manufacturing plants across North Georgia.
“The acquisition of the Shaw Building will allow our companies to expand our footprint from trucking and intermodal transportation into warehousing and redistribution of our customers' products all across the United States and Canada," said Wooten in his statement. "Trenton is located ideally within two hours of four major Southeast cities and within a 12 hour (overnight by truck) drive of over 120 million people. From a transportation perspective, our clients can reach a significant portion of their customers overnight from right here in Trenton, Ga. We are in the perfect location to be a major player in the warehousing and redistribution business, while hopefully being able to create a few jobs for Dade Countians along the way.”
Wooten, until January the longtime chairman of the Dade Industrial Development Authority, said he was keeping his options open as to whether his companies would utilize the entire facility or only part of it.
One way or the other, said Wooten: "Some new carpet and a little paint will make the building a viable part of the community once again, in a big way.”
