Goex breaks ground on plastics extrusion facility in Cedar City

CEDAR CITY — Goex Corporation recently broke ground for its new plastics manufacturing facility located in the western section of Cedar City.

Aerial photo of future site of Goex plastics manufacturing facility, Cedar City, Utah, Jan. 20, 2021 | Photo courtesy of Goex Corporation, St. George News / Cedar City News

Excavation work started in mid-December at the 20-acre site, which is part of the Port 15 industrial park.

The planned 125,000 square foot facility, expected to be completed by January of 2022, is similar in design to Goex’s current plant in Janesville, Wisconsin. The new facility will enable the company to deliver its products quicker to customers in the western part of the country, said Joshua Gray, president and CEO of Goex.

“This new location supports Goex’s ongoing commitment to ensure timely delivery of extruded sheet products to our customers in the western areas of the country,” Gray said in a news release announcing the groundbreaking.

Later, Gray told Cedar City News why the company had chosen Cedar City as the place to build its new plant.

“Cedar City was chosen for a variety of reasons, among which is the geographical location,” Gray said, noting that the location will help facilitate timelier product delivery within the Western U.S., including both the Northwest and the Southwest, in addition to Mexico. 

“Shipping product from Wisconsin to these locations is neither cost-efficient nor time-efficient,” Gray added. “Southwest Utah by all appearances has an excellent workforce and possesses a culture of embracing the 24/7 operation model. Both previous and current facilities operate in the region by this schedule.”

“Lastly, we have really enjoyed and been impressed by the people we have met in Cedar City,” Gray said, describing the populace as being “honest, straightforward, and they do the things they promise, much like the philosophy at Goex.”

Cedar City Mayor Maile Wilson-Edwards said she and other city officials are happy to welcome Goex to the area.

“We are excited to have them,” the mayor told Cedar City News.

“If you look at a lot of our manufacturing companies, we have quite a niche in the plastic market,” she said. “And so, where they’re a plastic extrusion manufacturer, they will fit right in with the culture of our manufacturing community. Their products are top-notch.”

“The other neat part about Goex, and where they’re located in Port 15, is they are the first company that’s building on the north side of the railroad tracks,” Wilson-Edwards added. “So with them going in, and the infrastructure to complete their facility, that is opening up that whole (northern) side for future development and future companies and continuing the great work of economic development and expansion in Port 15 and our manufacturing community.”

Construction work at the future site of Goex plastics manufacturing facility, Cedar City, Utah, Jan. 20, 2021 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News

“Not only are we excited about the jobs and the opportunities that they’re bringing but also the business expansion in having this company and the synergy that they’ll create for future companies in Port 15.”

The site’s proximity to a railway line was another major reason Goex chose to locate there, Gray said as he explained the company’s plastics extrusion process in further detail.

“Goex receives most of our raw materials by railcar,” he said, adding that the raw plastic pellets are mixed at the facility and pretreated in various ways to yield the desired physical properties of the final sheet.

“These materials are extruded into a thin, wide continuous ribbon,” he added, noting that the ribbon is then either wound into a coil or cut into sheets during manufacturing. 

“These sheets and rolls are converted by our customers into packaging for food, medical devices and retail applications,” Gray said. “Extruded sheet products are often printed to create in-store signage, displays, credit cards and the like.”

Gray said the company is planning to begin operating the Cedar City plant starting in the first fiscal quarter of 2022, with the new facility employing an estimated 40-50 workers to start with.

“Depending on realized growth, both capacity and employees counts will be increased as necessary,” he said, adding that workers will be needed to fill a variety of positions, such as in manufacturing and warehousing, as well as quality control technicians and support staff.

“Our pay range across all functions is $19-26 per hour,” Gray added.

Gray said the COVD-19 pandemic is not expected to have any significant negative impact on the expansion project.

“We have, in Wisconsin, pivoted some of our capacity to manufacture extruded sheet materials used in the production of face masks,” he said. “We have not had any shutdowns and have been moderately impacted through our workforce.”

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2021, all rights reserved.

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