Apr. 26—PPG company officials cut the ribbon on a new $15 million expansion of its powder coatings production facility Wednesday in Clay County.
The 20,000-square-foot expansion will add 12 employees to its existing workforce of 90 workers.
The expansion adds two state-of-the-art lines for bonded metallic powder and automated packaging capabilities.
The automated packaging lines are expected to be installed and be operational in August.
"We started trial runs in March, so now we are ready for production," said Orel Salinas, PPG plant manager, "and this [facility] has the capacity for up to 4 million pounds per year."
Powder coatings are used in the industrial manufacturing industry for metal racks, metal furniture, containers and powder coating is also used for appliances.
"This is a huge commitment," Orel said. "After almost two years [of construction], it is really cool to see it working."
PPG broke ground on the facility in August 2021. Sycamore Engineering of Terre Haute served as the mechanical/electrical contractor for the project.
In 2015, PPG acquired IVC Coatings, a specialty powder and liquid coatings maker. The expansion is on this facility, at 2831 Industrial Park Drive, located southeast of Great Dane Trailers off of U.S. 40 in eastern Clay County.
"Powder is the fastest-growing coatings technology in the world, and we are committed to meeting this increasing demand through R&D, acquisitions and investments to enhance our capabilities and expand our global footprint," said Marizeth Carvalho, PPG global business director, powder and general manager, Latin America South.
Carvalho said focusing on powder coatings enables PPG to achieve sustainability goals. Powder coatings are generally formulated without solvents that release volatile organic compounds and can be reclaimed and reused during the application process.
Kevin Braun, PPG vice president global industrial coatings, said PPG "made a commitment back in 2019 and 2020 that we wanted to be the world's second biggest powder coatings company.
"Investments like this one are one of the reasons that it is helping us to get to that point, and I am confident that we are not only there today, but we will continue to stabilize that position and grow from that going forward," Braun said.
PPG also has a liquid coating plant about 4 miles to the west near the intersection of U.S. 40 and Murphy Avenue in Brazil.
Howard Greninger can be reached at 812-231-4204 or howard.greninger@tribstar.com. Follow on Twitter @TribStarHoward.