First Quality Tissue Announces Next Phase of Investment in Anderson County
June 2, 2014
Company plans to hire 200 positions in support of third tissue line
ANDERSON COUNTY, SC – First Quality Tissue SE, LLC, a manufacturer of ultra-premium towel and bath tissue products, recently selected its Anderson County facility for the installation of their next tissue line.
First Quality Tissue plans to add more than one million square feet of new construction to the Anderson County facility located on Masters Boulevard. This expansion will accommodate a third Through-Air-Dried (TAD) paper machine with an estimated annual capacity of 70,000 tons. The startup of the new machine is expected to be in late 2015.
“We are thrilled to announce the next phase of our commitment to Anderson County and South Carolina,” said First Quality’s Nicholas B. Dottino. “We chose to locate to this area because of the growing market in the Southeast, as well as the infrastructure, workforce and favorable cost of doing business. We are excited to expand and bring on an additional 200 personnel in the coming years.”
“First Quality put Anderson County on the map with the Golden Shovel recognition for national economic development announcements when they chose us as their new home in 2010,” said Tommy Dunn, chairman of Anderson County Council. “Today, we stand with one of our own as they excel beyond their original commitment. The addition of their 3rd premium quality tissue line, their investment of $350 million and 200 new jobs is great news for Anderson County residents.”
As part of this $350 million investment, the company expects to hire an additional 200 employees on top of its current workforce. With the additional positions, the Anderson plant is expected to employ around 650 by the end of 2015. The announcement represents the second phase of the company’s overall planned investment of $1 billion in its South Carolina operations as announced in 2010.
“Under promise and over-deliver can be found under the definition of First Quality,” said Eddie Moore, Anderson County Councilman. “This impressive expansion puts them nine years ahead of schedule. District 3 is proud to have First Quality as an over-achieving member of our community. We pledge our continued support toward their future success and growth.”
“Anderson County businesses added 3,000 jobs over the past year, according to statistics released in May by the S.C. Department of Employment and Workforce,” said Anderson County Administrator Rusty Burns. “We are grateful to the entire South Carolina team including the Department of Commerce and especially Duke Energy. Their consistent and collaborative efforts foster a business-friendly climate that attracts quality business like First Quality Tissue to our county and helps them flourish in spite of a difficult economic climate. This is quite an achievement and effectively demonstrates Anderson County’s ability to compete in the global market.”
About First Quality Tissue
First Quality Tissue is a member company of the privately held First Quality group of companies, headquartered in Great Neck, New York, a leading manufacturer of nondiscretionary consumer products. The company is a market leader that offers a very diversified and full product offering of high-quality private label and branded products. For further information, please visit us at http://www.firstquality.com.
Residents interested in positions with the company may apply online at First Quality’s careers page.
**The Current Employment Statistics report (CES) for April 2014 reported 66,600 payroll employees for businesses and establishments located in Anderson County. In April 2013, the number of payroll employees was reported at 63,300.
Unlike the Local Area Unemployment Statistics report (LAUS), which measures employment based on an individual’s place of residence, the CES is based upon the physical location of individual businesses. Unemployment Insurance (UI) tax reports, submitted by nearly all businesses in the U.S., are used as the majority of the sample frame for the CES survey and cover almost all private industries and government agencies.
