Eloy: Republic Plastics Acquires Eloy Facility

Plastics co. from Texas expanding to Eloy site

By David Wichner

ARIZONA DAILY STAR 9/2/2010

A Texas-based plastics maker is expanding to Eloy with plans to initially hire 100 workers, the city and company announced Wednesday.

Republic Plastics LP, based in McQueeney, Texas, near San Antonio, is in the process of acquir­ing an 85,000-square-foot facility previously owned by another plastics company in Eloy, about 40 miles northwest of Marana.

Republic plans to immediately expand the exist­ing site to 110,000 square feet, with near-term ex­pansion plans to 300,000 square feet, the city and company said.

The site was previously owned by Plastic Tech­nology Inc., a subsidiary of North Carolina-based Hickory Springs Manufacturing Co., which closed operations there about two years ago.

Republic initially plans to employ 100 people at the new site, with the potential to grow to 300 jobs as part of the expansion.

Gino Inman, chairman, president and CEO of Republic Plastics, said in prepared remarks that the Eloy property near the intersection of Interstate 10 and Interstate 8 will give the company a lower freight cost and boost the company’s plans for continued growth on the West Coast.

Republic also has a plant in San Manuel, about 45 miles northeast of Tucson, as well as in McQueeney and Knox­ville, Tenn.

At the Eloy site, Re­public plans to manu­­facture, package and distribute private-label plastic foam products for the retail and institutional food service tableware markets.

Barry Albrecht, CEO of the Central Arizona Re­gional Economic Development Foundation, said Eloy’s transportation access, including a main Union Pacific rail line, is a major draw for manu­facturing companies. “Eloy, because of rail and I-10, is getting a lot of attention,” Albrecht said, adding, “Three hundred jobs in this area is a pretty big deal to us.”

Republic officials were unavailable for com­ment.

The company has said the manufacturing wages will start at $12.50 per hour, plus benefits, Albrecht said.

Republic was able to take advantage of tax breaks under the plant site’s Enterprise Zone designation, cutting employment taxes over three years, as well as property-tax breaks, Albrecht said.

The company is working with the development foundation and the state Department of Economic Security to set up a job fair in October, he said.

Contact Assistant Business Editor David Wichner at dwichner@azstarnet.com or 573-4181.