ANDERSON – Production is scheduled to begin by the end of February at the Sirmax plant in Anderson.
Greg Winkler, director of the Anderson Economic Development Department, said Tuesday the Italian company is hiring 20 Anderson residents to start production.
Sirmax had hoped to begin production in October but Winkler said part of the delay was getting equipment delivered to the site and completion of the rail spur.
Winkler said the first rail car arrived to the Sirmax site last week and the company is testing the equipment and the procedures for production.
Construction work started in May for the 141,000-square-foot manufacturing plant on the former Guide Corp. property on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard near the intersection with 25th Street.
Sirmax officials could not be reached for comment on the beginning of operations at the Anderson facility.
Sirmax is investing $25 million and plans to employ 50 workers. It is the first North American manufacturing plant for the Italy-based company, which also has operations in Brazil.
Sirmax produces plastics used in “white goods,” such as appliances, and in the automotive industry.
The company has a four-year contract with Whirlpool and is looking to cooperate with other global customers in Europe and South America.
The city provided $4.1 million in incentives for Sirmax to locate on the former brownfield property. The incentives include $250,000 to purchase the property and $250,000 for utility work.
The Anderson Redevelopment Commission and the Indiana Department of Economic Development are each providing $600,000 for a rail spur on the property.
Over the past decade, Anderson has actively cultivated relationships with international companies and has attracted foreign capital, talent and technologies, Winkler said.
“Sirmax’s investment will continue the growth of international companies locally and will kick-start the redevelopment of one of the largest brownfield sites in Anderson,” he said.
The city announced Tuesday that another Italian-based company, Italpollina, will be constructing its U.S. headquarters on brownfield property west of the new Purdue Polytechnic campus on Scatterfield Road. The company hopes to start construction in March and be ready to manufacture biostimulant fertilizer from soybeans in 2017 in its new plant.