A Texas company that makes insulation materials will establish a new manufacturing facility in Milledgeville in central Georgia in an industrial complex that has been empty for several years.
Sparta Industries, which makes foam insulation air ducts in commercial buildings, will open a factory in the former Rheem Manufacturing plant in Baldwin County, a news release from Gov. Nathan Deal’s office said Tuesday. The project is expected to produce more than 1,000 jobs over the next five years, the release said.
The Development Authority of the City of Milledgeville and Baldwin County said in an October Development of Regional Impact filing that it had entered into negotiations "with a large, start-up manufacturing company" to take over the empty building. The would-be jobs deal was known at the time as "Project Sparta."
The Rheem plant closed last decade, dealing a blow the Milledgeville area as the Great Recession was getting started. The company once employed 1,600 on the site.
“We’ve been waiting a long time to get someone back to work in this building,” Chat Daniel, chairman of the Milledgeville and Baldwin development authority, said in the release. “We are optimistic about a great future and partnership with Sparta Industries. This community is ready to assist them as they get up and running.”
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