Announcements for rockets, sporting goods and electronics top the week’s job creation, site selection and investment news:
In Florida, Rocket Crafters, a company that holds licenses for advanced hybrid rocket and aerospace composite technologies as well as proprietary hybrid rocket design and analysis software, will relocate from Utah to Titusville. The company plans to develop and commercialize a new hybrid rocket propulsion technology and leverage an ultra-lightweight, advanced composite material to manufacture dual-propulsion suborbital space planes.
In Georgia, Academy Sports + Outdoors will expand its distribution center operation in Jeffersonville, creating 250 jobs. This project expands the sporting goods, outdoor and lifestyle retailer’s Jeffersonville distribution center by more than 500,000 square feet.
In South Carolina, AVX will increase manufacturing and research operations in Greenville County. The more than $14 million investment by the manufacturer and supplier of electronic and interconnect components is expected to generate 279 new jobs over the next several years.
In Kansas, Reinke Manufacturing Company Inc. will expand its manufacturing facility in Belleville, more than doubling its workforce over the next 18 months. The expanded facility will be around 20,000 square feet and will make many of the items that Reinke currently manufactures, such as irrigation and chassis products. The expansion will increase employment at the Belleville plant to 50 workers by the end of 2013.
In Kentucky, ZF Rubber & Plastics Hebron LLC will expand its manufacturing operation, adding more than 60 new jobs to its current full-time workforce of 206. The company’s $17.9 million investment will increase the existing Hebron facility by 52,000 square feet and allow for the purchase of new equipment to manufacture bushings, engine mounts, anti-vibration products and plastics components for the auto industry.
Also in Kentucky, Taica North America Corp. plans to locate a manufacturing facility in Winchester. The Japanese investment will create 30 new full-time jobs over the next several years and entail a more than $8 million investment by the company. Taica Corp. was founded in 1948 in Shizuoka, Japan, and manufactures shock absorbing material/components, vibration damping material/components, heat conductive materials, as well as three-dimensional decoration technology
