Plastic housewares maker Keter Group's subsidiary Home Design Products plans to spend $8 million to expand its Anderson, Ind., plant.
The city of Anderson issued a news release on April 2 disclosing the project. The expansion was the result of a business trip to Israel in late February and early March by Mayor Kevin Smith and Greg Winkler, the city's interim economic development director. The city said in late February that the trip was to focus on building long-term relationships with Keter Group and Taditel, an automotive electronics manufacturer with operations in Anderson.
“The Keter Group is now the largest producer of home plastic products in the world and we want to see them continue to grow in Anderson,” Smith stated in a Feb. 25 news release. Home Design Products also has an operation in Alexandria, Ind.
The Anderson expansion is expected to create 15 new jobs, complementing Home Design Products' current employment of 136 in Anderson.
Keter, based in Herzliyya, Israel, makes a range of housewares and garden products. It has 29 plants in Israel, Europe and the United States. Its 2011 sales were about $900 million.
Officials at Home Design Products and Keter Group did not return phone calls.
The city of Anderson estimates foreign companies have invested about $1.2 billion in the city since 2004.