A Middle East company that produces backings for carpet will build a plant in northwest Georgia and create 200 jobs, Gov. Nathan Deal announced Wednesday.
Deal said Mattex, based in Dubai and Saudi Arabia, will expand its U.S. operations by investing $60 million in a Murray County extrusion manufacturing plant over the next three years. The plant will be built just outside Eton.
Mattex currently has a distribution facility that employs six workers in Calhoun.
It’s the second major announcement in recent days about jobs coming to northwest Georgia, home to major carpet and flooring producers that have been hit hard by the economic downturn.
The region shed thousands of jobs after the carpet and flooring industry, like many tied to home building, suffered when home sales declined sharply. Now, with home sales and construction rebounding, more manufacturers tied to the industry are seeking to expand.
“Mattex’s expansion speaks to the continued revitalization of the floor covering industry in northwest Georgia,” Deal said in announcing the new plant.
Mattex produces polyolefin-based textiles, primary and secondary carpet backings, artificial grass backings, and woven and nonwoven geotextiles.
Mattex Chief Executive Officer Luc Blommaert said the new plant is the “next logical step for better servicing our current customer base.” Construction will begin this summer and operations are expected to begin in 2014.
Mattex is eligible for $7.94 million in state incentives, including job tax credits, sales and use tax exemptions for qualified machinery used in production, and Quick Start employee training services, Department of Economic Development spokeswoman Alison Tyrer said. The company also has been recommended for a $450,000 project development grant.
The Georgia plant will be Mattex’s first manufacturing facility outside the Mideast.
Last week, Deal announced Engineered Floors, founded by former Shaw Industries chief Bob Shaw, will open two carpet plants that would employ 2,400 people in northwest Georgia.
Deal said Engineered Floors will invest $450 million in the two plants. One factory will be built in Whitfield County and create 1,000 jobs; the other, in Murray County, will create 1,400 jobs.
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