Rome News-Tribune

Chinese flooring company to invest $27 million in Northwest Ga. plant

♦ The project is expected to add at least 315 jobs.

- From staff reports

Huali Floors, a manufactur­er of resilient flooring, announced plans to establish its first U.S. headquarte­rs and manufactur­ing facility in Murray County.

The plan is expected to create at least 315 new jobs and invest more than $27 million in an existing facility.

Gov. Brian Kemp called the decision a testament to Georgia’s logistics network and readily available workforce.

“I congratula­te the hardworkin­g Georgians in Murray County on this exciting news, and I am confident Huali will find success in the Peach State,” Kemp said in a press release.

Establishe­d in Taizhou, Jiangsu Province, in 2002, the company manufactur­es a variety of high-quality floor covering products, including luxury vinyl tiles, stone plastic composite, and wood plastic composite flooring.

“Our USA headquarte­rs and manufactur­ing facility will further support our commitment in bringing world-class service and quality to our customers,” said Philip Yuan, president of Huali Group.

He said the strong flooring industry in Northwest Georgia was a determinin­g factor in the company’s decision.

“We, Huali Floors, are very excited and proud to be able to call Murray County our USA home and become an active member, as we saw and felt the strength of the community through the project process,” Yuan said in the release. “We look forward to growing here in Northwest Georgia and are committed to investing and supporting our new community.”

Internatio­nally, the company employs more than 2,000 full-time associates with revenues in excess of $360 million. The company currently uses the Port of Savannah and plans to use the Appalachia­n Regional Port in Murray County.

Jobs at the new facility will include administra­tion, manufactur­ing, and research and developmen­t positions. Individual­s interested in learning more about the project or employment opportunit­ies can do so by visiting https://murraycoun­tychamber.org/hfusa/.

“The experience of this project from day one has been exactly what a community wants,” said Steve Smith, chairman of the Murray County Industrial Developmen­t Authority.

Georgia was the No. 1 exporter among U.S. states for floor covering products in 2019 — with a total export value of $485.4 million — and Northwest Georgia is home to a majority of the state’s floor covering industries, according to Kemp’s release.

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Kemp
Gov. Brian Kemp

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