THOMASVILLE — Check-Mate Industries continues to hire people and even more jobs are on the company horizon, according to company officials.

“We just hired our 101st employee. We’re growing very quickly,” said Jackie Santoro, Check-Mate vice president.

The company makes the vast majority of firearm magazines for most U.S. manufacturers.

Check-Mate opened in August 2019, with about 30 employees. A company goal is to add 40 employees by July.

Expanded operations are planned at the Thomasville plant.

Santoro said the company is committed to hiring the 230 employees promised in 2019. The number will be reached — and exceeded — within five years, she added.

She said Check-Mate wants to place high school students in training at Southern Regional Technical College to prepare participants for Check-Mate jobs in tool and die, a class of machinist.

The Check-Mate site at West Babylon, Long Island, New York, has an apprenticeship program. 

“We’re trying to unveil it here,” Santoro said.

Positions in tool and die are difficult to fill, Santoro said. When a number of U.S. manufacturers moved operations overseas, tool and die was viewed as a diminishing career and not pursued by many.

Check-Mate, she said, is always looking for tool and die operators or those interested in learning the trade.

In the next round of hiring, Check-Mate also is looking for personnel in supervision, production, skilled labor and engineering.

Check-Mate, a family-owned business, was founded in 1972, by Santoro’s father, the late Thomas Vieweg. Operations here and in New York are the company’s only sites.

Santoro and her daughter live in Thomasville.

“It’s a wonderful community, really remarkable down here,” Santoro said.

Company plans call for moving the entire firearms part of the company to Thomasville. Santoro said the move will take place as soon as needed personnel are trained.

Those interested in applying for a Check-Mate job should go to Check-Mate Industries.com and look under careers. After logging in, resumes can be submitted online.

Inquiries also may be made by calling the Thomasville plant at (229) 236-9030. 

Senior reporter Patti Dozier can be reached at (229) 226-2400, ext. 1820