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DuPont to expand Belle
plant;
part of $1 billion investment
E.I. DuPont de Nemours and company will invest nearly $20 million in its Belle, West Virginia, facility over the next two years for development and production of a new herbicide for the citrus farming industry.
The Belle plant also has been designated the prime herbicide manufacturer for the company, leading to the prospect of additional investments and jobs in the future.
DuPont, the nation's 10th largest chemical company, recently announced it will invest $1 billion in the agricultural products line, the fastest growing division in the company.
This facility holds a special place in the history of the chemical industry in the United States. It was at Belle in 1925 that construction began on the first commercial ammonia synthesis plant in the nation. Other breakthrough accomplishments at the facility included the technological development of nylon and production of the first synthetic urea for fertilizers and plastics.
The company currently employs 780 at the Belle facility.
Guardian Fiberglass brings
150 jobs to Martinsburg
Guardian Fiberglass recently announced it will invest $35 million in a new manufacturing facility in Martinsburg, West Virginia, creating 150 new jobs.
The company, a subsidiary of Guardian Industries Corporation, manufactures fiberglass insulation for use in commercial and residential applications.
A 700,000-square-foot building and 200 acres will be converted to unveil the new facility, which will enable Guardian Fiberglass to better serve its customers in the Mid-Atlantic region.
"We conducted an exhaustive search throughout the United States for a potential site for this plant and we were most impressed with West Virginia and the city of Martinsburg for several reasons," said Duane Faulkner, president of Guardian Fiberglass. "West Virginia provided us with the right combination of strategic location from a marketing standpoint, the availability of a productive and
high-quality work force, incentives and the right kind of infrastructure to support a plant of this size."
Toyota engine facility listed among
top 10 projects in U.S. during 1996
Toyota Motor Corporation's decision to construct a $400 million engine production facility in Buffalo, West Virginia, is among the nation's top-10 new industrial projects announced during 1996, according to a recent analysis by Site Selection magazine.
The engine plant is under construction and will employ 300 people. The facility will be on a 230-acre site in Putnam County and will have an annual production capacity of 300,000 units. Engines for the Toyota Corolla and Geo Prism will start rolling off the plant's production lines in late 1998.
JELD-WEN selects Nicholas
County
for new plant; 80 new jobs
JELD-WEN, a wood products manufacturer, will construct an 80,000-square-foot production facility at Craigsville, West Virginia, creating about 80 new jobs.
The company, based in Klamath Falls, Oregon, is one of the world's largest manufacturers of doors, windows and specialty wood products.
The state-of-the-art facility will use wood-waste residue from nearby Columbia Forest Products to produce molded door skins for residential use in the domestic and international markets.
"Part of JELD-WEN's vision was to have facilities in strategic locations, so we could be in a better position to meet the needs of a growing worldwide market. West Virginia is located exactly
where we need to be to serve these markets," said Richard L. Wendt,
chairman of the board for JELD-WEN.
Operations at the facility are scheduled to begin in the first quarter of 1998.
Fairmont aerospace firm
awarded
$1 million contract for NASA project
Aurora Flight Sciences of West Virginia has been awarded a $1 million contract from Orbital Sciences Corporation for design and development of wings for NASA's new X-34 Reusable Launch Vehicle.
The new aircraft will be used by NASA to demonstrate technologies for low-cost space access and commercial space launch competitiveness. Aurora Flight Systems in the Marion County Industrial Park in Fairmont, West Virginia, specializes in small production runs and prototyping low-cost aerospace structures.
West Virginia industrial
sites now available
The city of Huntington recently purchased the former Owens-Illinois glass plant, turning the facility into a multi-tenant industrial park to be known as the Huntingon Industrial Center.
Owens-Illinois vacated the facility in late 1993. The Huntington Area Development Council is marketing the 41.8-acre facility to prospective tenants.
Construction is under way on the new Earl Ray Tomblin Industrial Park in Logan County. The 30-acre industrial park, along Corridor G at Holden, West Virginia, will provide the necessary infrastructure for eight to 10 industrial sites.
"The park will be the first of its kind in southern West Virginia and will not only attract local companies to build new facilities but will also attract new companies to Logan County," said Logan County Development Authority Director Byrne Matteson.
The $2 million project is expected to be completed by the end of 1997.
West Virginia jobless rates
reach
record lows for first quarter
West Virginia's unemployment rate during the months of January, February and March were at their lowest monthly levels since 1979, according to figures released by the West Virginia Bureau of Employment Programs.
Quad/Graphics to invest
$34 million more
into new Eastern Panhandle plant
Quad/Graphics, Inc., has already announced it will invest an additional $34 million in expanding its Martinsburg, West Virginia, printing facility, which is under construction.
The Pewaukee, Wisconsin-based company, one of the largest privately held magazine, catalog and commercial printers in the Western Hemisphere, began construction on the $60 million gravure printing plant in the fall of 1995.
Gravure printing can produce up to three times as many pages per impression as a typical web offset press because the image is
engraved onto a wear-resistant cylinder instead of transferred to a
plate. The West Virginia facility originally was designed to house two gravure printing presses, but will now house four presses due to increased production demands.
The 420,000-square-foot facility initially will employ more than
100 people when it opens in May. Future expansion at the facility will create as many as 1,000 new jobs.
Woodcraft to build $3.5
million
world headquarters in West Virginia
Woodcraft, a Parkersburg, West Virginia-based woodworking supply company, recently announced plans to build a $3.5 million world headquarters in Wood County, creating 60 new jobs.
Plans call for a 25,000-square-foot corporate office, a retail
store and museum to be constructed on a 5.68-acre site near Vienna, West Virginia.
Woodcraft specializes in catalog and retail store sales of woodworking tools, supplies and books to hobbyists and professionals worldwide. The company moved its warehouse/distribution center from Boston, Massachusetts, where the company was founded in 1928, to Wood County in 1989. Woodcraft's central offices were moved to West Virginia in 1992.
Expansion/modernization projects
Advantage Food Products, Inc., recently announced it will expand its Petersburg, West Virginia, poultry processing facility, creating 150 new jobs.
The expansion will consist of the construction of a 12,000-square-foot addition to the company's freezer and work area and the purchase of new equipment. The company currently employs 400 people.
FOSROC, Inc., of Princeton, West Virginia, recently broke ground for a new production facility.
The company, a London, England-based Burmah Castol Company, has
operated in Princeton since 1974 and manufactures equipment for the mining industry.
The company will construct a 30,000-square-foot plant on a
5.54-acre site in the Cumberland Industrial Park to meet growing demand for resin anchor cartridges produced for roof bolting. The new facility is expected to open in November 1997.
BASF Corporation will invest $6 million during the next 12 months in modernization of its Huntington, West Virginia, facility.
The modernization project includes installation of new production line equipment and construction of a new two-story warehouse. The company manufactures alkali blue, a pigment used in various inks and pigments, including black. BASF employs 200 people in Huntington, with a total payroll of $12 million annually.
Homer Laughlin China to
invest
$10 million in West Virginia
The Homer Laughlin China Company recently announced it will invest $10 million in modernization of its Newell, West Virginia, facility.
The modernization project will be completed in two phases, adding a new kiln, spray lines and forming equipment.
"We are always looking for ways to modernize our facility," said Joseph Wells III, executive director of Homer Laughlin China. "We've resisted at all costs moving from West Virginia. We think there is a place in America for American-made china, and that place is here in
Newell."
The company, located along the banks of the Ohio River,
underwent an extensive $15 million renovation project in the early 1990s. Originated in 1874, the Homer Laughlin China Company is the largest china manufacturer in the United States and produces the popular Fiesta line.
Advantage Valley encourages
shared vision of economic prosperity
Advantage
Valley, a nonprofit community and economic development partnership, is
bringing together leaders from Greater Huntington, Putnam County and
Metropolitan Charleston, West Virginia, to market the region as a prime
location for business and industry.
Stretching along the I-64 interstate corridor, Advantage Valley features a population of more than a half million people. Six institutions of higher education and economic development
organizations have pledged their participation and financial support to the partnership.
"Advantage Valley will present to the world an aggressive
and targeted picture of the economic advantages and opportunities of this region. We will lead the way in marketing the region globally and nationally as a perfect place for jobs and families," said David Lowe, chairman of Advantage Valley. "The power of our shared vision in economic prosperity in the region will result in the creation of employment opportunities."
Tourism makes a strong contribution
to West Virginia's economy, study shows
Tourism contributed $4 billion to West Virginia's economy in 1996, according to a recently completed economic impact study. From 1989 to 1996, growth in West Virginia's tourism industry has increased by one-third, with a 5 percent increase occurring during the last year alone.
"State government and private industries are excited about the continued growth and about the higher growth rate," said Robert A. Reintsema, Department of Commerce commissioner. "West Virginia's tourism potential is unlimited. With innovation and enthusiasm, we can expect this trend to continue."
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