HANOVER TWP. — Rob Unnerstall, President and CEO of National Cart, Wednesday said his company’s expansion into Pennsylvania will provide additional manufacturing and distribution space to better serve east coast customers.
“This expansion makes logistical sense and demonstrates our commitment to our customers and the investment to grow our business,” Unnerstall said. “Our three strategically placed locations will give National Cart a better opportunity to help our customers grow their business.”
National Cart, a family-owned business started by Unnerstall’s father in 1979, is a leader in the manufacturing of material handling products headquartered near St. Louis, held a news conference/tour/ribbon cutting ceremony at its new facility in at 32 Earth Conservancy Drive, near the Hanover Industrial Park.
This is the third U.S. location for National Cart — the other sites in Reno, NV that opened in 2000, and the corporate office in St. Charles, MO.
Unnerstall, 55, said the combined locations bring the company’s total manufacturing and distribution space to more than 460,000 square feet.
The Hanover Township building has about 42,000 square feet. Unnerstall said he is looking for a larger space of about 60,000 to 75,000 square feet for a permanent location to move to when the current two-year lease runs out.
“Don’t look too far,” said Sam Guesto, Hanover Township manager. “We have a lot of available space here in Hanover Township.”
Unnerstall also noted that his company has been fortunate to expand during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic — he said business has increased by 35 percent. He said many of his company’s clients utilize the products he manufactures.
“First of all, there was not a pandemic when we made the decision to locate here,”Unnerstall said. “That being said, we are fortunate that we serve the e-commerce industry — a lot of grocery chains and other clients that utilize online shopping with customer pick-up. We provide the carts to support that process.”
There are six full-time employees and six part-time employees at the Hanover Township facility, with plans to grow that to 20 to 25 employees.
Unnerstall said the jobs include manufacturing assemblers, machine operators and welders and are being advertised online. He said most positions start at $16 per hour — welders get about $20 per hour.
Jobs with the company can be searched on their website.
National Cart’s Paul Deutsch, Unnerstall’s son-in-law, will lead the team at the new location.
Unnerstall stated, “I am pleased to have Paul lead the initiative to grow the business and the team in the eastern region. I have total confidence in him and our expansion’s future success.”
Lew Hann is the East Plant manager, Unnerstall said.
Bill O’Boyle | Times Leader
