Bericap, an international producer of specialized plastic closures, has announced plans to build a new plant in Cherokee County, S.C., that will support its lube oil closures business in the United States.
The company plans to invest $20 million in the new facility with room for future expansion. Construction of the first-phase building, consisting of 90,000 square feet, will commence in 2007 with production expected to begin in the second quarter of 2008.
The plant is going into South Carolina mainly to support and build our customer base in the southeast and the South, so that would include our lube oil business that we presently have, that we supply into the U.S., Bericap North America Director of Sales and Marketing David Read told Lube Report. Eventually we will put machines in that plant to support our lube oil business, which is primarily in Louisiana, Texas and New Jersey.
Read explained that the geographical location was ideal from a transportation standpoint. Its good because were able to get into the southeast, the South as well as the Midwest, because of the proximity to I-75 and I-85 in that area, he said. Another factor was the presence of a surrounding labor base where injection molding skills are common.
The South Carolina plant will be Bericaps third North American facility built in 11 years, and its second in the United States. Its other plants are in the city of Ontario, Calif., and in Burlington, which is in Ontario, Canada. Bericap North America is based in Burlington as well. Parent company The Bericap Group is headquartered in Budenheim, Germany.
According to the South Carolina Department of Commerce, the plants design will feature and accommodate use of automated, state-of-the-art equipment and processes in a climate controlled environment. Operations will ramp up in early 2008 on a 24 hour, 7 day production basis and will initially employ 45 full-time operators and management that Bericap will recruit locally.
The company will provide specific training through the Spartanburg Technical College program developed in coordination with the South Carolina State worker training program (readySC). Permanent job employment is projected to expand each year by about 10 positions.
The plant will be in Upstate Corporate Industrial Park, which is a joint venture initiative formed by Spartanburg and Cherokee counties to bring new industry and jobs to the area. The counties will develop some 500 acres of land dedicated to the creation of the industrial park.