Oct. 26--Mayor Allen Joines has formed a task force that includes officials from Dell Inc. and the N.C. Department of Commerce to find a new tenant for the Dell computer-assembly plant when Dell closes it in January.

Joines said Friday that the goal would be to "find a user who would be generating as many good, quality jobs as we can find" -- although Dell, the building's owner, would obviously have the final say on the disposition of the plant.

"For a company to go in there, they are going to have to be fairly significant and producing a product that would justify an acquisition of that magnitude," Joines said.

Task-force members include Bob Leak, the president of Winston-Salem Business Inc., and Don Kirkman, the president and chief executive of the Piedmont Triad Partnership. Both organizations are in the field of recruiting business and industry.

Others on the task force include Susan Fleetwood, the director of special projects for the Business and Industry Development Division of the N.C. Department of Commerce, and Lydia Kennedy, an official with Dell.

Derwick Paige, Winston-Salem's deputy city manager, and Ed Jones, the deputy county manager, will be on the task force.

"We may have someone from the private real-estate community involved as we get further along," Joines said.

Leak, who was involved in the effort to lure Dell here in 2004, said he's started the process of looking at potential industries.

"A building like that is going to be attractive to a small number of companies," Leak said. "It is not a small building. That will allow us to focus on companies that might have a need that large."

The challenge is to find the right company at the right time, Leak said.

The plant is about 700,000 square feet, Leak said. It has open architecture that makes it versatile and truck access on two sides.

"I suspect it is one of the largest manufacturing buildings in the state," Leak said.

Joines said that Dell said it wants to be "as helpful as possible" in finding a good tenant for the building that can make up for the jobs being lost.

About 900 employees will lose jobs at the plant. At its peak, Dell had about 1,125 full-time employees and 250 contract workers here -- a number fewer than the 1,700 jobs the company had expected to create.

"I don't think it would be computers," Joines said. "Dell was one of the last ones manufacturing computers in the U.S."

David Frink, a Dell spokesman, said Dell is "interested in making sure that facility is properly in use after we leave," but said it would be pure speculation to guess what kind of company might want the site.

Local officials say that the FedEx distribution hub at Piedmont Triad International Airport will ultimately make a big difference in Winston-Salem's ability to attract new businesses.

"There will be a number of companies that want to be in the Triad and enjoy the advantages that being near an air hub gives you," Leak said.

wyoung@wsjournal.com

727-7369

-----

To see more of the Winston-Salem Journal, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.journalnow.com/.

Copyright (c) 2009, Winston-Salem Journal, N.C.

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.

NASDAQ-NMS:DELL, NYSE:FDX,

A service of YellowBrix, Inc.