Lubrizol Corp. will increase capacity for chemicals – including some used in specialty additive systems for lubricating oils – to support changing customer needs and improve site infrastructure at its Painesville Township, Ohio, plant under a five-year, $100 million expansion announced last week.
According to the company, its Painesville facility is the manufacturing site for new, highly specialized chemical products and services for a variety of applications. These include specialty additive systems for lubricating oils used in gasoline and diesel engines, automatic transmissions, gear drives, marine engines and tractors. Lubrizol also supplies specialty products for industrial fluids, fuel additives, process chemicals and coating additives.
Lubrizol held a groundbreaking ceremony at the Painesville plant April 22. The five-phase expansion includes addition of an unspecified amount of new manufacturing capacity, updating of automated packaging capabilities, increasing of warehouse space, and improvement of staging and loading of truck shipments, Lubrizol stated in a news release. In addition, the project is designed to enable safer and more efficient handling of product drums and totes.
Through this important initiative, we will be better positioned to meet the changing demands of our customers, ensure the integrity and quality of our products, reinforce personal and environmental safety, and attract the workforce talent that is required to run our operations, Craig Hupp, Lubrizol Painesville plant manager, said in a news release.
Lubrizol obtained tax incentives through a collaborative effort with the Lake County Port Authority, Painesville Township and the Lake County Board of Commissioners. Through a grant from JobsOhio and refundable job creation credits from the state, the company expects to add about 25 new jobs at the facility, which now employs more than 300 people full-time.
According to its website, Lubrizol established its Painesville, Ohio, campus in 1956 – purchasing, renovating, and expanding the former site of a chemical company there.
In 2000, Lubrizol acquired RPM Inc.s Alox metalworking additives business, relocating its product manufacturing to its Painesville manufacturing plant in 2001.
Wickliffe, Ohio-based Lubrizol was acquired by Berkshire Hathaway in 2011 for $9.7 billion.