Intertape Polymer Group Inc. is spending millions of dollars to expand a facility near Danville, Va., a project that will create more than a dozen new jobs.
The company, with corporate offices in Montreal and Sarasota, Fla., already employs 300 people at its facility in Pittsylvania County, and the new $7 million project is expected to add 15 new jobs.
The latest work means the company will spend a total of $25 million in recent upgrades and expansion at the location, according to Virginia officials.
News of the Virginia project comes at a time when the company is seeking to significantly expand business.
"IPG remains focused on strategic expansions, improvements and acquisitions to propel the company to our five- to seven-year goal of almost doubling the size of our company to $1.5 billion in revenue," CEO Greg Yull said in a statement.
Gov. Terry McAuliffe broke the news of the expansion.
"In 2017, we've committed over $25 million in capital investment in Ringgold, Va., for the expansion of both our manufacturing operation and our distribution footprint. As a corporation that has committed to growing and thriving in Pittsylvania County for nearly 30 years, I share the governor's enthusiasm for the positive labor impact and I look forward to the growth that this expansion will enable," Yull continued.
The latest work will involve both manufacturing and distribution.
Virginia beat out both Illinois and South Carolina to win the expansion project and additional jobs, the state said.
Virginia used funding, including a $50,000 grant from the commonwealth's Opportunity Fund and a $75,000 grant approved by the Virginia Tobacco Region Revitalization Commission, to help attract the expansion. Intertape also will be able to receive state benefits from the Virginia Enterprise Zone Program.
"This expansion is only the latest of several recent significant capital investments at the company's Ringgold Plant," Pittsylvania County Board of Supervisors Chairman Bob Warren said in a statement.
Intertape has been in the county for 30 years.
Intertape makes film- and paper-based pressure sensitive and water-activated tapes, polyethylene and specialized polyolefin films, woven coated fabrics and packaging systems for industrial and retail use.
The company has about 2,450 employees at 20 locations, including sites in North America, Asia and Europe.
"It is gratifying that Intertape Polymer Group chose to expand its Pittsylvania County operation out of more than a dozen locations around the world," Secretary of Commerce and Trade Todd Haymore said in a statement.
Intertape ranks No. 22 in Plastics News' most recent survey of North American film and sheet manufacturers with an estimated $400 million in North American film sales and total sales of $808.8 million.
The company also recently acquired Canadian Technical Tape Ltd., a supplier of industrial and specialty tapes based in Montreal, for $67 million. Cantech makes pressure-sensitive tapes for the industrial, construction and retail markets in Canada, the United States and Europe. Manufacturing sites are in Montreal; Cornwall, Ontario, and Johnson City, Tenn.