By Brice Wallace
A Wisconsin-based plastics manufacturer will put a western U.S. operation in Cedar City, adding up to 100 jobs to that area’s economy over the next few years.
GOEX Corp. made the announcement after being approved for a $365,299 tax credit over seven years by the Governor’s Office of Economic Development (GOED) board at the board’s June meeting. The company is considering property in the Port 15 Utah industrial park for the $15 million project.
GOEX began in 1982 in Janesville, Wisconsin, to supply PVC extruded sheet plastics to Prent Corp. and was spun off in 1990. The private, family-owned company manufactures custom plastic sheets serving graphic arts, medical, electronics and packaging industries. The Cedar City plant is expected to allow the company to compete more effectively on food products packaging, such as for butter, yogurt, pudding and fruit.
The project is expected to result in $1.8 million in new state tax revenue and $23.5 million in new wages over seven years. The company expects to have 40 employees working in the first year, with the figure growing to 100 by the sixth year. The jobs are expected to pay an average of $42,600.
The company said the Cedar City facility will occupy 120,000 square feet on a 20-acre site. Its Janesville facility was completed in 2015, occupies 235,000 square feet and employs 200. GOEX will continue to grow operations in Janesville, which will remain the base for product development, research and development and corporate offices.
Joshua Gray, CEO and president, said the company considered several western locations that would improve the company’s freight costs and speed to market. “From the Midwest, it’s difficult to both manufacture and ship product to Portland, for instance, Sacramento [or] Mexico, so we started looking almost five years ago at alternative sites in the West,” he said, adding that Cedar City reminded company officials of a rural Wisconsin community where people are friendly, forthright and deliberate.
“This is a fantastic company,” said Thomas Wadsworth, GOED’s associate managing director. “It’s going to be a real boon to this rural economy.”
The project is expected to be a major boost for the 540-acre, rail-served Port 15 Utah industrial park, which was formed in 2007. Danny Stewart, Cedar City and Iron County economic development director, said the GOEX facility will be the first development on the north side of the railroad tracks that bisect the park.
“With the new development with GOEX there, we feel this will be a very important step with the development of Port 15 itself,” Stewart said. “What an incredible company: great culture, great people. We feel at home with them and I believe they do with us.”
“We think it’s a great cultural fit and a great cluster fit as well with the growing plastics sector in Cedar City and throughout central Utah,” said Theresa Foxley, president and CEO of the Economic Development Corporation of Utah.