Ground broken at FSTI site

By BRAD KELLAR
Herald-Banner Staff

GREENVILLE May 09, 2007 12:52 am

— Thanks to all the recent rains, local business and government leaders found it easy to dig a shovel-full of dirt Tuesday, as the ground was broken for the future home of FSTI in Greenville.
The turning of earth also signaled the formal start of the city’s newest industrial park, off of U.S. Highway 380 just west of the city limits.
FSTI intends to build and operate a $20 million salt-refining facility on approximately 17.5 acres at the site.
Stoney Barton, who along with his wife Staci, began FSTI, which stands for Fluid Solution Technology Incorporated, in 1998 near Manor, Texas. Barton said negotiations began 18 months ago regarding expanding operations to Greenville.
“Since then, our company has doubled in size,” Barton said. A manufacturer and distributor of chemicals to both municipalities and private enterprises such as Texas Instruments and Samsung, Greenville will be the home of what is being referred to as “The Waterloo Project”.
FSTI intends to build a membrane-grade salt refinery/manufacturing facility. The materials produced are commonly used in water treatment, blending, pharmaceuticals and household products.
“Hopefully, we will actually be starting construction in two to three weeks,” Barton said.
The 16,000 square foot facility, to be built by Speed Fab-Crete, will take about four to six months to complete.
The company would employ about a dozen technicians, engineers and administrators and another 10 distribution workers.
Equipment for the plant itself will require 12 to 18 months to deliver. Once it is fully operational, the facility is expected to provide a significant financial benefit, as it will be will be one of the largest users of electricity in the area. FSTI would purchase approximately $2.5 million per year in electricity from GEUS.
GEUS has volunteered to pay for the construction of a new road off of Highway 380 and into the industrial park.
Part of the project calls for a relocation of Highway 380, between the street GEUS intends to build and County Road 1086. The approximately three-fourths of a mile segment of the highway to be bypassed would be renamed as Loop 138.
Barton expressed his thanks to everyone involved with bringing the company to Greenville, including Mayor Tom Oliver and the City Council; the Board of Development, former Board chairmen Dee Hilton and Joe Weis and executive director Ben White; GEUS and Board Chairman Sue Ann Harting; Community Development Associates, Speed Fab-Crete and Wells Nelson.
“And we also want to thank the people of Greenville,” Barton said.