Barrette Outdoor Living Inc. plans to add 162 employees to its Bulls Gap, Tenn., workforce of 700 and expand its manufacturing space there by 40,000 square feet, state officials say.
The company, which makes vinyl, aluminum and steel fencing and railing, composite decking and other exterior products, will invest $33 million in the expansion, which will include four new extruders, coextruders, cooling tanks, and fabrication and packaging equipment.
Barrette is one of the top five employers in Hawkins County and the new jobs will have a "tremendous impact" in the area, Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development Commissioner Bob Rolfe said in a recent news release.
This expansion is just the latest in Barrette's growth spurt. The company announced in February it was upgrading its Plant City, Fla., facility to double its production of vinyl fencing. It is also doubling its intake of discarded PVC to 4 million pounds this year, used to recycle into new products. Barrette said at the time that it would add an extruder and fill 38 new positions.
In January, the Middleburg Heights, Ohio-based company announced that its DuraLife unit would double its polypropylene and wood composite decking production this year at its Biddeford, Maine, facility. The company planned to add extruders and other equipment, and expand the workforce there by 30. Barrette entered the decking market with its 2018 purchase of DuraLife and its 100,000-square-foot manufacturing and warehouse site in Biddeford.
Barrette Outdoor Living employs more than 2,000 people at 10 locations throughout the United States and at a distribution facility in Canada. It announced in November it was taking on investors.
The company now is majority owned by TorQuest Partners Inc., a Toronto-based manager of private equity funds, and Quebec Deposit and Investment Fund (Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec/CDPQ) a long-term institutional investor. Retaining a significant minority share are Les Entreprises Barrette Ltée and a management team headed by CEO Jean desAutels.