Governor Releases March"Open for Business"
Report
CHARLESTON, W.Va. - Gov.
Joe Manchin today released the latest in a
series of regular "Open for Business"
reports, documenting the state's economic
progress. The March 2006 report reflects positive
progress in the state's economic development
efforts during the past month, with projects
and related announcements that will assist
with the creation of as many as 60 new jobs
and the preservation of a significant number
of existing jobs.
GrafTech International, Ltd. will
expand its advanced graphite materials production
facility in Harrison County, creating
as many as 60 new jobs. GrafTech is one of
the world's leading manufacturers of carbon
and graphite products for industrial applications
in a diverse array of industries including
metal production, electronics, chemicals,
aerospace and transportation. For more information
on the company, visit www.graftech.com.
Le Luong Minh, Vietnamese ambassador
to the United Nations, visited West Virginia
to explore opportunities for trade and investment.
The ambassador and his staff met with several
West Virginia companies interested in exporting
to Vietnam and with representatives of Marshall
University and West Virginia University to
discuss education issues.
Gov. Manchin's involvement at the
request of federal mediators involved in contract
negotiations at PPG's Natrium plant in New
Martinsville led to the resolution of a dispute
between the company and striking workers.
Representatives from the West Virginia
Development Office and the Chemical Alliance
Zone participated in INFORMEX, the
custom chemical industry's premier marketing
event, with nearly 480 custom chemical companies
and more than 4,000 specialty and fine chemical
professionals in attendance in Orlando. WVDO
representatives also participated in the International
Poultry Exposition in Atlanta.
Tech-Seal Products, Inc., in Ohio
County announced an expansion involving the
purchase of a new coater/laminator.
Tech-Seal Products, a 25-year-old corporation
that markets custom cap liners and temper-resistant
innerseals in the U.S., Canada, Mexico and
other countries, consolidated its two manufacturing
facilities - the innerseal division in Roselle,
Ill., and Wheeling's liner division - at the
Wheeling operations in 1999.
Shrewsbury Properties, LLC, announced
acquisition and improvements of two buildings
on a 1.05-acre site between U.S.
60 and the Kanawha River in the Shrewsbury/Chesapeake
area of Kanawha County. The owners of New
River Engineering, Inc.,and Doss Engineering,
Inc., formed a limited partnership (Shrewsbury)
to purchase a building that is being leased
from KEM Realty for future expansion. NREI
was formed in 1998 and is an engineering and
consulting firm that primarily serves the
coal and construction industries. Doss was
formed in January 1999 and provides contract,
consulting and engineering services primarily
to the coal mining industry.
Mountain State Log Homes, Inc., announced
acquisition of a 50,000-square foot shell
building on a five-acre site in the Jane Lew
Industrial Park in Lewis County.
The project also includes the purchase and
installation of a planer and a dust collection
system. Mountain State Log Homes, founded
in 1978, manufactures log homes, pallets and
wooden boxes/shipping containers. The relocation
of operations from Ireland, West Virginia,
to Jane Lew will enable the company to place
its production, currently performed outdoors,
under roof.
Greenfield Cabinetry, LLC, announced
the purchase and installation of equipment
at its Randolph County operations.
Greenfield Cabinetry, a manufacturer of semi-custom
cabinetry, began operations in 2000 in Elkins
as a sister company to Corsi Cabinet Co. of
Indianapolis, Ind., which manufactures very
high end cabinetry.
Earlier this year:
Gov. Joe Manchin joined representatives
of The Esseco Group to announce the Italian
company will invest as much as $20 million
to establish its first U.S. manufacturing
site at the Bayer CropScience Institute
Site Manufacturing Industrial Park in Kanawha
County, creating as many as 30 new jobs. The
plant, to occupy about nine acres at the Institute
site, will produce sodium metabisulfite, sodium
sulfite and sodium bisulfite solution, which
are used in many industries such as water
treatment, food preservatives, gas cleaning
in power stations as well as in the manufacture
of chemicals, photo processing, surfactants
and pharmaceuticals. Esseco Group manufactures
sulfur-based chemicals (sulfites in crystal
and liquid form) and sulfur for industry and
agriculture.
West Virginia European Office representatives
participated in the annual meeting and exhibition
of the Flemish Industry Association in Antwerp,
Belgium, to promote West Virginia
as an investment location. Nearly 1,000 executives
attended the event hosted by the Flemish Industry
Association and the United States Ambassador
to Belgium. An emphasis was put on chemicals,
plastics, automotive, general manufacturing
and the IT industry.
A nine-member delegation of business
and government leaders from the Shanxi Province,
the largest coal-producing province in China,
visited Charleston because of West
Virginia's importance to the energy industry
and future business opportunities. Delegation
members met with West Virginia business people
interested in exporting mining machinery to
China, developing joint ventures in coal gasification
or liquefaction, and other trade and investment
opportunities. Of $3.26 billion in West Virginia
exports in 2004, $128 million went to China,
which ranks No. 7 in the list of countries
to which West Virginia businesses export.
Plastics, mining machinery, organic chemicals
and wood were the top exports.
|