SPRINGHILL, La. (AP) — The state of Louisiana and Webster Parish are offering incentives valued at $10 million to bring a Texas company and its planned $20 million plant to a site near Springhill.
IntegriCo Composites will move its corporate headquarters to Louisiana from Temple, Texas, and convert a site at the North Webster Parish Industrial District to a plant to make plastic railroad ties and other railroad products near Springhill, Gov. Bobby Jindal said Monday.
The company, founded in 2005, recycles plastic to make composite railroad ties, rail crossings and industrial mats.
It plans to hire 300 people with an average salary of $35,000 a year, plus benefits, and to lease 178,000 square feet of manufacturing space and 12 adjacent acres from the industrial district, according to a news release from the governor's office.
"The 300 jobs that IntegriCo Composites will bring to our parish is a godsend and a great opportunity not only for our residents but for surrounding communities as well," said Webster Parish Police Jury President Jim Bonsall.
The state is offering $2.5 million in performance-based awards and an equal amount in infrastructure improvements such as rail spur modifications and electrical, roof, flooring, lighting and plumbing improvements.
The parish is providing a 10-year performance-based grant of $500,000 annually to support IntegriCo's lease of manufacturing equipment at the industrial park.
Springhill's economy has struggled since the International Paper mill there closed in 1979, followed by closure of a Georgia Pacific plywood mill and a Trane Co. plant that made air conditioner components. IntegriCo will use both the former Trane building and an adjacent building built by the district at North Webster Industrial Park.
