ACPI to expand in Mount Union Plant manager expects new jobs to be available

MOUNT UNION –The recent expansion of a kitchen and bath cabinetry company is expected to add as many as several hundred new jobs locally in the near future, its leadership says.

In 2016, ACPI launched a new line, Serenade Cabinetry, which is being manufactured at the old FCI plant, a 16,000-square foot facility, located at 11823 Lenape Drive, Mount Union.

ACPI President and CEO Larry Denbrock said Serenade Cabinetry plans to add 40 to 50 new jobs and the new facility is expected to offer as many as several hundred new jobs between three product lines as production grows.

Greg Long, plant manager for ACPI in Mount Union, said the facility has been producing cabinets for about nine months and currently has more than 50 employees, many of which came from the Thompsontown facility.

Long, who has 25 years experience working with manufacturing companies, 13 years of which being in furniture and cabinet making, said Serenade Cabinetry offers more than 4,600 types of customizable cabinets.

The Thompsontown facility has been in operation for more than 60 years, currently has about 800 hourly employees, while ACPI nationally is the largest independent cabinet manufacturing company, with about 2,000 employees.

Denbrock said ACPI decided to continue its expansion in Huntingdon County because of its friendly environment.

“We really like the community here and we will be looking for good people to work,” he said.

Gigi Butler, who has become a celebrity in Nashville, Tenn., for building Gigi’s Cupcakes, which currently has 100 stores nationwide, will serve as the face of the new cabinetry line and will work with the company to help promote Serenade Cabinetry to kitchen and bath dealers around the country.

Denbrock said he feels Butler will be a good fit for the company, adding that he feels kitchen designers will be able to relate to her. “She really has a compelling life story,” he said.

After working as a housekeeper for about two decades, Butler said she has cleaned “just about every surface there is” and will represent the company well.

The company’s new location is also in the process of developing a showroom where customers will be able to see products that are available. Butler expects to give baking demonstrations at the facility a few times each year to showcase Serenade Cabinetry products. “It just seemed like a natural fit,” she said.