Executives from Force Protection Inc., the South Carolina-based producer of armored, advanced mine protected vehicles, offered a DVD and PowerPoint presentation to explain what the company is and what it plans to do in the former Collins & Aikman Elm Plant here. Executive Vice President Dan Busher then opened the floor to questions.

Force Protection purchased the 430,000-square-foot C&A plant in July, when it announced that it would eventually hire 270 people here to produce the Cheetah, the company’s next generation MRAP (Mine Resistant Ambush Protected) vehicle.

On Wednesday, Busher told the Roxboro Area Chamber of Commerce Coffee Hour crowd that 12 people were already on the Force Protection payroll here. The first Roxboro “team members” were hired on Aug. 27, Busher said. Six of the employees are salaried and six are hourly. Nine of the 12 are currently at work, and the other three will begin next week.

Busher said the company plans to have the first phase of plant upfitting completed by Oct. 8 and that the first vehicle assembly should take place during the fourth quarter of this year. The company is currently interviewing for assemblers, he said.

By mid-2008, Busher said, the company hopes to have its first Cheetah complete and ready to ship from the Roxboro plant.

The Cheetah is designed specifically for reconnaissance, forward command and control, and urban operations, and combines state-of-the-art ballistic and blast protection with the mobility of a light-armored vehicle. Its speed and road handling make it ideal for homeland security missions, Busher said.

The company expects to produce 2,000 of the vehicles over the next year

The company’s greatest need here soon will be for skilled welders, Busher said. The company is working closely with Piedmont Community College and the Employment Security Commission to fill the slots for, not only welders, assemblers and painters but office and clerical workers, warehouse, shipping and receiving, records and tracking, material planning, human resources, safety and other support jobs.

Busher ticked off the various job categories in response to a question by Person County Department of Social Services Director Beverly Warren, who also asked if the “softer skills” jobs of cleaning and building and grounds maintenance would be done by Force Protection employees or if the company would contract for those types of services.

Busher said there would be “a number of opportunities” in those areas for both Force Protection employees and contractors, but that “the larger number will be direct employees” of the company.

When asked if many jobs here would require security clearance from the military or government, Busher said that some would need clearance, but he added that few who work in the South Carolina operations need clearance.

Job opportunities will be posted on the Force Protection Web site, www.forceprotection.net, said Busher, and at the ESC office here in Roxboro. Announcements will also be made through PCC, he said.

Busher assured his large audience, “Force Protection intends to be a long-term community partner. We will be active in charitable initiatives,” he said, “and are confident that we will meet or exceed the employment numbers we first announced” in July.

Busher told Personians that he and the entire Force Protection team felt honored to play a part in keeping U.S. troops safer.

“We can’t wrap our arms around our troops,” he said, “but we can wrap them in our steel.”

Every one of Force Protection’s more than 1,000 employees recognizes that “lives depend on our vehicles,” Busher said. “The safety of our troops is not our business. It is our cause.”

Busher added that he and the company were “very excited to be in Roxboro to build the Cheetah.”

He thanked Jim Stovall, chair of the Roxboro-Person County Economic Development Board and county Economic Development Commission Director Glen Newsome for taking “a lot of time to understand” the company and its needs. Busher added that the leadership and cooperation of Roxboro city government and the county commissioners were appreciated as well.

In 2003, Force Protection produced 11 armored vehicles. Last year, 295 Buffalo and Cougar vehicles were produced at the Ladson, S.C. facility near Charleston.

The Buffalo is used for clearing land mines, Busher explained, and the Cougar comes in four-by-four and six-by-six models for use by explosive ordnance teams.

“Our products have been tested in the field,” Busher said, by soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The U.S. armed forces plan to replace the Humvees currently in use by soldiers in the Middle East, Busher said, between 2009 and 2011, and the Cheetah will likely be the vehicle of choice, he said. There are now over 180,000 Humvees in service, Busher said.