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Thursday, June
21, 2012 |
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Community | Obits | Editorial & Columnists | Society | Sports | Education | Classified Ads | Calendar of Events | Features | Newsbriefs | Legals | Archives | Subscriptions | New Photo Gallery |
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Roxul picks
Marshall By SUE
WATSON
A global leader in the manufacture of stone wool insulation, used in residential, commercial and industrial construction, is coming to the Chickasaw Trail Industrial Park in Marshall County. It is the first manufacturing plant Roxul is locating in the United States and the first major manufacturing facility to be built in the Chickasaw park. Governor Phil Bryant broke the news on Wednesday of last week and local leaders met with the Roxul officials Thursday – the first face-to-face meeting of many of the partners who helped bring the Denmark-based company to the state and county. The company’s stone wool insulation products find lots of uses in the Do-It-Yourself (DIY) market, the commercial building market and in industrial construction. Made of a very durable and strong material spun from basalt (volcanic) rock and slag from the steel industry, the insulation is produced in many different densities and sizes to suit a variety of applications including flat roof insulation. The products are fire resistant, have excellent acoustical properties, are water repellent and are dimensionally stable with no expansion or shrinkage. The factory, to be built on about 111 acres in the Chickasaw park, will supply markets in the United States in the Southeast region, as far north as Washington, D.C., as far south as Texas and westward to the Central U.S. Two manufacturing plants in Canada – Grand Forks, British Columbia (serving the western Canada and Northwest U.S. markets) and a facility in Milton, Canada, near Toronto (serving eastern Canada and the northeast U.S.) – are already in operation. The facility in Marshall County will produce 100,000 tons of stone wool product a year, according to the company’s news release.
It will be built just east of the Exel warehouse and Cayce Road. Roxul is expected to provide hundreds of jobs during the construction phase and about 80 manufacturing jobs at startup. At maximum capacity, the facility is expected to employ 150 people, according to Bill Mobley, executive director of Marshall County Industrial Development Authority. Mike Young, with Allen & Hoshall engineering firm, that is overseeing construction, said construction is expected to begin in May 2013. The plant will be open and making insulation in 2014. Mobley, who has been with the development of this project for a year, is delighted Roxul selected Chickasaw park. “We’re extremely happy,” he said. “This has been a long process, a good team effort between the board of supervisors, MDA, the Tennessee Valley Authority and the North Mississippi Industrial Development Authority and Roxul and their team, working 12 months on this project. “They are very enthusiastic about coming to their first U.S. location. “They make a quality product. We are just tickled to death. Our number one job is to bring jobs to our county and to increase our tax base (county valuation).”
It is noteworthy that Roxul marks the first major manufacturing facility at Chickasaw park and helps diversify the uses of the park, he said. And other projects are being worked on as well. “I hope this shows we are a good location for manufacturing as well as for distribution,” Mobley said. District 3 supervisor Keith Taylor is excited about Roxul and the new manufacturing opportunities. “It impressed me that everybody is so keen to employ Marshall County citizens,” he said. “I think it is going to kick off Chickasaw park, which has seen growth in the last four years. We’ve had a lot of interest and Roxul will bring families to live and shop here.” Chancery clerk Chuck Thomas is also excited Roxul is partnering with the state and county. “I was fortunate that the board of supervisors allowed me to go meet with Roxul and MDA officials in November in Jackson,” he said. “There are no big ‘I’s’ and little ‘you’s.’ This is truly a community effort. It takes us all. We were competing with other states. We are making history with this. “I feel like this will open the floodgates for industries to come here. And we can say we, in Marshall County, are a major player and we can offer this park to big companies.” Roxul is investing about $130 million in the project. Roxul is a part of the Denmark-based Rockwool International, the world’s leading producer of stone wool – a fiber-based insulation made from natural stone and recycled materials. Trent Ogilvie, president of Roxul, expressed great excitement about expanding its investment in North America as well as its market. “We appreciate the warm welcome we have received from the State of Mississippi and look forward to becoming an active member of the community,” he said. Roxul Inc., is the North American division of Rockwool International, and has been operating in Canada 20 years. The company is the leading North American manufacturer of stone wool insulation products for the North American market. The Canadian facilities use the latest technology to produce residential products and an array of industrial, commercial and marine stone wool insulation products. Visit www.roxul.com for more information. |
     
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