Ardagh Group, a Luxembourg-based global leader in metal and glass packaging, has purchased the 525,000 foot former Hanover Direct building on Hollins Road and will invest $93.5 million dollars to build a new manufacturing plant that will create 96 jobs in Roanoke.
Roanoke County officials say it’s the single largest investment in County history and is the ninth County company with global interests. In fact, Secretary of Commerce & Trade James Cheng says this is the first canning plant to be built anywhere in the U. S. in over 20 years.
Ardaugh officials signed a long-term supply agreement with ConAgra earlier this year, requiring the company to build another facility. Company officials looked at sites in Kentucky, Maryland, West Virginia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee for the project, before deciding on Virginia.
“We had to put together a great incentive package to close this deal. Governor McDonnell approved a $750,000 grant from what we call the Governor’s Opportunity Fund, the GOF, to assist the county on this project. The company also qualifies for our Rail Access funding from the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation. And also, the Virginia Department of Business Assistance will provide some funding for recruitment and training programs through our VJIP, the Virginia Jobs Investment Program”, said Cheng.
The jobs will be high-tech manufacturing jobs which he says pay well above Roanoke County’s median wage. Ardagh CEO James Willich says the company will begin advertising immediately for key positions.
“This isn’t your dad’s manufacturing,” he says. “I started in manufacturing 25 years ago and we sort of had a pyramid where you had lots of labor in the plant and the skill level went up. Well, just imagine, this facility will have an inverse pyramid of skills. We’re going to have a very, very large pool of highly skilled individuals, both electrically and mechanically. It’s very important that the school systems and others produce the kind of people that we’re looking for.”
Willich says the area had everything Ardagh needed. “We needed a good business tax structure, we needed a relatively low cost of living and a low cost of doing business. We needed excellent infrastructure-water, sewer, electricity, and natural gas-to meet our demands. And, of course, we had to be in an area that had all of the logistical advantages, being close to major interstates both east to west, north and south. And we wanted to be in close proximity to our customer, ConAgra.”
Roanoke County Board of Supervisors Chairman Mike Altizer says such a project is a testament to the area. “It is about Roanoke County, but it’s also about this region. It’s about the importance when something happens good in one locality, it grows legs and it transfers to other localities. And conversely, if something goes wrong, it does the same thing.” He says this sends a message to other companies looking for a place to locate their business. “This represents the largest single manufacturing investment in Roanoke County’s history, and we anticipate even greater long term investments from the company and its suppliers. We’re delighted that Ardagh has the confidence to invest in our region and we look forward to assisting them in this transition.”
The new plant is expected to be up and running by early 2015, and will produce about 5 percent of the beverage cans needed for the U. S. market.
– Beverly Amsler