Brad Kellar
The Herald Banner
GREENVILLE
Tue, May 13 2008
—
Greenville will soon have the only Newell Rubbermaid plant in the United States manufacturing items for the company’s Home Products Division.
The Hunt County Commissioners Court Monday joined the City of Greenville and Hunt Memorial Hospital District in approving a tax abatement for a $20 million expansion of the local facility.
Robert Winningham, executive director of the Greenville Board of Development, said the abatement will help the city and county retain one of its largest employers.
“We really believe this will solidify the Greenville plant,” Winningham said.
The expansion is expected to result in the addition of 20 new jobs.
Where Newell Rubbermaid once had five plants across the country as part of the Home Products Division, there are now only the facilities in Greenville and in Canton, Ohio.
“We learned two weeks ago that they are closing the Ohio plant,” Winningham said.
The company is transferring its newer and more efficient equipment from a plant which recently closed in Phoenix, Ariz. to Greenville, with a net local gain of $17 million in machinery.
The plant’s inventory, which would remain taxable, is expected to double from approximately $7 million to $14 million.
The local plant at 7121 Shelby Avenue opened with 200,000 square feet in 1980 and has undergone five earlier expansions. The plant now covers 1.2 million square feet in the Greenville Industrial Park.
The facility produces and distributes a wide variety of plastics products and related items and employs some 500 workers.
Unlike previous tax abatements granted to the company, which were 100 percent for seven years, the current abatement would be graduated, at 100 percent for the first year, then be reduced by 10 percent per year to just 60 percent in year five.
In September, Newell Rubbermaid announced plans to close one third of its manufacturing operations worldwide and cut 5,000 jobs.
Winningham said there is a chance Greenville could see even more expansion once the closure of the Ohio plant is final.
“We are in negotiations with them on that,” Winningham said. “We’ve shown them that we are business friendly.”
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