PTI invests $11 million in Ga. pipe plant
ORLANDO, FLA. - Orlando-based Plastic Tubing Industries Inc. is investing $11 million in a new corrugated high density polyethylene pipe plant in Warrenton, Ga.
It will be the company's third extrusion facility.
The 25,000-square-foot plant will sit on 50 acres and initially employ 20-30, said Marc Maroschak, president of Plastic Tubing Industries of Georgia Inc., in an Aug. 24 telephone interview.
The initial work in Warrenton will focus on production of PTI's patented multipipe drain field systems, which eliminate the need for conventional stone or gravel drainage in septic tank applications, Maroschak said.
The new site will help PTI serve existing and future customers in and around Georgia as it builds up to a national rollout, he said.
PTI extrudes typically smaller diameters - 15-inch pipe being the largest - at its two existing facilities in Orlando and Waller, Texas.
The state of Georgia will assist in training employees at the new Warrenton facility, according to a news release from Gov. Sonny Perdue's office.
SPI nixes Eastern Europe trade mission
WASHINGTON - A business development mission scheduled for next month to Poland and the Czech Republic has been canceled because of a lack of interest, causing the Society of the Plastics Industry Inc. to begin an internal evaluation of its role in developing trade missions for its members.
Karen Toliver, vice president of international affairs and trade counsel for Washington-based SPI, said there are no plans at this point to reschedule the trip.
Only five companies had confirmed their intentions of joining the mission, which had been scheduled for Sept 25-29, compared with the 13-15 companies that SPI had set as its target number. The mission would have spent 2½ days each in Prague and Warsaw, with an emphasis on plants that make medical devices, packaging and products for the automotive and construction industries.
Martinrea merging sites into new plant
VAUGHAN, ONTARIO - Auto supplier Martinrea International Inc. will spend $8.3 million on a new factory in Manchester, Mich., consolidating operations from two other sites.
The Vaughan-based company announced Aug. 15 that it will employ 197 at the Manchester site. Martinrea is receiving a $2.6 million tax credit from the state of Michigan to help finance the project and the city of Manchester is considering a $983,000 tax abatement.
The 170,000-square-foot facility will house Martinrea fluid management products now made in nearby Dexter, Mich., and in Ontario. The company did not say which of its four Ontario fluid product sites is involved in the consolidation and did not respond to requests for more information.
Martinrea makes fuel and brake lines using both metal and plastics within its fluid management unit, along with a variety of metal systems including hydroformed steel fuel tanks. It purchased the former Pilot Industries Inc. of Dexter and its multilayer thermoplastic fuel line production in 2002.
Goodman nets big NPE order from China
CHICAGO - G.F. Goodman & Son Inc. sold 16 pieces of downstream auxiliary equipment to a factory in China on the last day of NPE 2006 - and officials said they believe it is Goodman's largest-ever single order at an NPE show.
Goodman booked the order for eight rotary extrusion cutters and eight two-belt caterpillar pullers.
Goodman, which announced the news Aug. 21, declined to say anything about the extruded product to identify the customer. Duke Davis, vice president, said the auxiliary equipment is going to an American company's plant in China.
The customer configured the machines to minimize maintenance costs and to be easy to use.
Davis said the China order kicked off an upsurge of business during the month of July. He said cutters and other downstream equipment play a critical role in extrusion, a high-speed, continuous process.
Goodman, based in Ivyland, Pa., is in its 74th year of business.
NPE was held June 19-23 in Chicago.