Dell Makes Test Models in Triad Plant

Sep. 19–Workers at the Dell Inc. plant have begun making initial test-model computers as production gears up for the first orders that will be shipped to customers.

Dell is in the process of hiring the third group of employees at its 500,000-square-foot manufacturing facility at Alliance Park in Winston-Salem, said corporate spokeswoman Donna Oldham. The company has hired about 280 workers so far, and by the end of the year Dell will have more than 500 at the plant, Oldham said Friday.

The Dell hiring has bolstered the employment market in the Triad, said Karen Leonard, manager of the N.C. Employment Security Commission office in High Point.

People come into the High Point job service office regularly to ask about Dell positions, she said. “They realize that there will be continuous hiring,” Leonard said.

Eventually, 1,500 or more people will work at Dell. The Texas-based computer conglomerate will invest $100 million in the Triad facility during the next five years. Earlier this year, a Dell executive had indicated that production of computers would begin effective Monday.

However, Dell continues to test equipment and make models, with an expectation now that production of computers for customers will begin around Oct. 5 when a formal dedication ceremony is held for the facility, Oldham said.

Dell employees will mark an internal milestone Monday, she said. They will make a test-model computer that will be signed by employees and placed in a display case in the building lobby.

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