Polyethylene film and bag producer Poly-America LP has dusted off plans for a new facility in South Carolina.
The company announced a $100 million investment in Chester County on Oct. 27, about nine years after it initially gave notice of the plan. Poly-America subsidiary, Carolina Poly Inc., will operate a 475,000-square-foot factory on 198 acres in Chester County that is due to start up by mid-2017.
“Carolina Poly will enable us to stay ahead of growing customer demand for our products and to realize logistical efficiencies in servicing our customers in the Southeast and Northeast [United States],” explained Poly-America vice president of sales Trent Mallory in a news release.
Chester County is located midway between Columbia, S.C., and Charlotte, N.C.
Poly-America expects to employ about 300 in Chester County and will begin hiring in late 2016. South Carolina's Coordinating Council for Economic Development has approved a $1.8 million Rural Infrastructure Fund to help with property improvements and job development credits related to the greenfield project.
Poly-America had announced in October 2006 its intention to spend $100 million on the Chester County film and bag plant when it bought the property. Company officials were not immediately available for comment but a local report indicated the recent economic depression and rising resin prices delayed the firm's intentions.
Poly-America is headquartered in Grand Prairie, Texas. Plastics News estimated its annual North American film and bag sales at about $250 million in its most recent survey of film and sheet manufacturers. The company, established in 1976, is known for its Husky brand of trash bags and liners and a range of film and sheet for construction, shrink and industrial applications, all made of polyethylene.
The South Carolina project is not the first one Poly-America has delayed. In fall of 2005 it resuscitated a film plant project for Henderson, Nev., after the plan lay dormant for more than 10 years. That project was geared to invest some $63 million in an operation focused on western U.S. markets.
Poly-America's third current production facility is in Cottage Grove, Minn.
