Advanced Environmental Recycling Technologies Inc. is adding an extrusion facility in Springdale, Ark., and warehouse space in Lowell, Ark.
The extruder of wood composite profiles will erect a building in Springdale, home of its headquarters, by the end of the third quarter.
``We're expanding just as fast as we can,'' spokesman Bob Thayer said in a Jan. 25 telephone interview.
Officials haven't decided on that facility's size yet; it will be AERT's second extrusion site in Springdale, Thayer said.
In Lowell, AERT will add 200,000 square feet of warehouse space. That facility is under construction.
``We expect to be in there by midsummer,'' Thayer said.
In other AERT news, the company filed a counterclaim Jan. 24 against insurer Lloyd's of London, in which officials are seeking $1.8 million, plus lawyers' and court fees and punitive damages.
According to AERT, underwriters at Lloyd's filed suit against the company Jan. 19, seeking a declaratory judgment that Lloyd's is not liable to reimburse AERT for certain costs of rebuilding AERT's Junction, Texas, facility. That facility was destroyed by fire in early 2003.
Lloyd's alleged that AERT did not rebuild the facility exactly as it had existed before the fire, and that AERT committed fraud by seeking reimbursement for alleged improvements made to the facility.
AERT officials said the filing was unexpected, because AERT has cooperated fully with the claims underwriting process, and negotiations toward a final settlement of the claim were progressing. AERT officials said Lloyd's lawsuit is without merit, and it denies all of Lloyd's allegations in its counterclaim. Officials are seeking immediate and full reimbursement for rebuilding the Junction plant.
AERT makes ChoiceDeK decking sold through Weyerhaeuser, MoistureShield door and window components, MoistureShield CornerLoc exterior trim and fascia components and MoistureShield decking. The firm also operates recycling and extrusion facilities in Tontitown, Ark., and Alexandria, La.