[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 18]
[Senate]
[Page 24250]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




CELEBRATING THE OPENING OF THE COLUMBIA SPORTSWEAR DISTRIBUTION CENTER 
                        IN HENDERSON COUNTY, KY

 Mr. BUNNING. Mr. President, I want to celebrate the dedication 
of the Columbia Sportswear 4 Star Distribution Center in Robards, 
Kentucky.
  Columbia Sportswear is a family-owned company that was founded in 
Portland, OR, in 1938. You may be familiar with this corporation's 
amusing advertisements featuring Gert Boyle, the matriarch and 
chairwoman of the company, testing her products under various extreme 
conditions.
  This is a $40 million dollar facility occupying 428,000 square feet. 
It could add up 400 new jobs to the area, not including any other 
indirect employment. This site will enable Columbia to have better 
access to its markets in the Midwest and on the East Coast. The 
industrial park that the center is built on was the result of 
cooperation between Henderson, McLean, Union, and Webster Counties. I 
was very impressed by how the region pulled together to make this 
project happen.
  I believe that this distribution plant will bring jobs and other 
economic benefits to this area. Columbia Sportswear is good company and 
I am excited to welcome them to Western Kentucky. I look forward to the 
positive impact they will have on the community.

                          ____________________