By: Max Garland, Staff Writer | Posted: Feb. 15, 2018 | Source: WV Gazette-Mail
Armacell’s expansion of its Spencer operations is on pace to receive help from the state Economic Development Authority, as the agency gave preliminary approval Thursday for a $3 million loan to help prepare the larger facility the company will move into.
The 10-year loan will go to the Roane County Economic Development Authority, which owns the former Mustang Survival facility that Armacell is moving to, for various renovations and repairs at the site if given final approval.
Armacell’s Spencer operations are currently housed in a 40,000-square-foot facility in the city’s downtown. The insulation supplier began its operations there in 2005 after buying it from Monarch Rubber. Production at the new, 103,000-square-foot facility is expected to begin in mid-2018.
“This will keep [Armacell] in Spencer, but move them to where they can expand,” said David Warner, the EDA’s executive director.
Armacell is growing its Spencer operations in order to meet the increased demand for the foams it makes for equipment insulation, according to Warner. In a news release, Armacell said the expansion will help better serve East Coast customers.
The expansion will create 13 jobs in the span of a year, which would bring the company’s employee total in Spencer to 87, according to data provided by the EDA.
Mark Whitley, executive director of the Roane County Economic Development Authority, said the EDA’s preliminary approval is welcome news for an expansion that should bring in $12 million in capital investment from Armacell.
Also Thursday, the EDA approved $3.72 million in loan insurance for Clear Mountain Bank, which is providing a loan to Digital Connections, Inc., a Morgantown-based provider of internet and phone services for North Central West Virginia.
Digital Connections will use the loan to help expand its gigabit service area in Preston County.
Warner said he hopes the loan insurance approval will encourage more applications to the EDA relating to broadband internet services, which legislation passed last year — House Bill 3093 — helped pave the way for.
In other news, the EDA:
- Did not take any action regarding the final approval on a $6 million loan for West Virginia Great Barrel Company. In January, the EDA approved a motion to delay the loan decision for three months or until all of the company’s other financing is in place. The barrel-making company has said it’s waiting for a matching loan to be finalized.
- Gave final approval for a $6.6 million loan on a 15-year term to The Health Plan of the Upper Ohio Valley, which will use the loan to finance the purchase of a building and equipment in Wheeling.
Reach Max Garland at max.garland@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-4886 or follow @MaxGarlandTypes on Twitter.
