Secretary of the Interior Stewart L. Udall reported. today that an agreement has been reached between the Bureau of Indian Affairs and Harry Winston, Inc." of New York City, for the establishment early next year of a diamond processing plant at Chandler, Arizona, which will provide new job opportunities for the State's Indian population.
The Winston corporation, one of the world's leading diamond mining and processing firms and donor of the internationally famous Hope Diamond to the Smithsonian Institution, will operate the plant in a building to be constructed by the Chandler Development Corporation. The Bureau of Indian Affairs will provide funds for on-the-job training of Indian workers.
Plans call for a work force of at least 200. Indians are expected to comprise the major part of the production force. Those from the nearby Gila River and Salt River Reservations should especially benefit.
At first the operation at Chandler will be confined to intermediate processing and polishing of precious stones. As the workers gain proficiency, however, it is expected that the Chandler plant will take on the more difficult operations of final processing of precious stones and the processing of commercial diamonds.
The plant is to begin training a small group of workers and add a similar group each week until the work force is built up. The plant is expected to begin operations about April 1, 1962. A public hearing on zoning of the tract where the plant will be located is scheduled to be held in Chandler on December 11.
Establishment of the plant at Chandler, Secretary Udall said, is the result of negotiations carried on by the industrial development staff of the Bureau of Indian Affairs with the Winston firm over an extended period. These negotiations were conducted under the Bureau's program to encourage the establishment of industries on or near reservations as a means of widening job opportunities for Indians.
