New Apparatus Maker
Ward ’79 has purchased the machinery and equipment of the bankrupt Ward LaFrance Truck Corp. and has begun production at the plant in Elmira Heights, N.Y., which had been idle for more than a year.
Henry Kaeser, president of Ward ’79, said the start-up work force of 40-50 employees last October is expected to increase to about 140 by midyear.
The company will produce and assemble fire apparatus and off-highway equipment.
Kaeser, formerly president of American LaFrance’s Domestic and International Development Division and previously vice president of operations at Ward LaFrance, said Ward ’79 is locally owned and managed.
