GASTONIA – A European manufacturer of plastics has selected Gaston County as the location of its first facility in the United States, and has been awarded a $79.9 million contract by the U.S. Department of Defense to do so.

The company, Premix Group, announced it had received the contract on Monday, following the announcement on Friday that the company had selected a facility in Gaston County’s Apple Creek Corporate Center.

Premix Group headquarters in Finland. Premix Group image.

Premix Group will invest $47 million in the facility and plans to create more than 30 jobs in the region, according to a statement from Machelle Baker Sanders, the North Carolina Commerce Secretary.

The private company is headquartered in Finland and it manufactures electrically conducive plastics to serve the automotive, diagnostics, electronics, and life science industries.

The facility will include manufacturing, warehouse, office and lab space for its diagnostic testing operations, according to the statement.  But, primarily, it will produce plastic materials for diagnostic testing, a statement noted.

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Capacity expansion

Expected to be operational by September 2025, the facility will produce plastic compounds that will be suitable for use on pipette tips, for which there is “growing demand and stringent quality requirements for diagnostic testing,” the statement noted.  Once operational, the increased production capacity from the facility could generate enough material for pipette tips for more than 200 million COVID-19 PCR tests on a monthly basis, the statement noted.

“The new capacity will improve Premix’s global supply capability and mitigate risks in global supply chains,” says Jari-Matti Mehto, President and CEO of Premix, Inc., in a statement.  “With the new U.S. plant, we will improve our ability to serve our customers in the important U.S. market.”

The nearly $80 million deal was funded through the American Rescue Plan Act to enable and support U.S. domestic industrial base expansion for critical medical resources, and the U.S. Department of Defense worked with the Department of Health and Human Services.

Wages for the 30-35 jobs the company said it would hire are expected to average at least $54,000 annually.  According to the Department of Commerce, the company will receive a performance-based grant of $75,000 from the One North Carolina Fund.

This is the latest economic development announcement coming from the Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia metropolitan statistical area.  Earlier this year, Eli Lilly announced it would invest $1 billion in a facility in Concord.  And, in March, Macy’s selected a site in Rowan County for a $584 million fulfillment facility expected to employ some 2,800 workers.

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