Manufacturing plant in Inola to bring 300 jobs

INOLA — A company is planning to break ground in mid-March on a plant that will initially employ about 300 people, said Scott Roy, president of the Inola Chamber of Commerce.

Officials have declined to disclose the name of the company, but Public Service Co. of Oklahoma last month sold 240 acres of the former Black Fox nuclear site to Sofidel America Corp., an Italy-based company that specializes in tissue paper production, land records show.

A total of $360 million will be invested into a “major consumer goods manufacturing facility,” according to minutes from a December meeting of the Rogers County Board of Commissioners.

Roy said the development, about three miles southwest of Inola, will benefit the skilled industrial workers in Inola, many of whom must drive to such places as the Tulsa Port of Catoosa, Claremore, Catoosa and the Mid-America Industrial Park to find employment.

“To have this in our backyard is really exciting for some of those people,” Roy said.

About 500 workers could be needed for the facility’s construction, which is expected to take 18 months, he said.

“With the construction workers coming in, we’re going to see the biggest impact on our local gas stations and restaurants short-term,” Roy said. “Long-term, a lot of those construction workers won’t be looking to live in purchased housing. But they are going to be looking for RVs, rentals,” options he said would bleed into Catoosa and Claremore.

The new company’s property is in the Inola city limits, he said. To prepare for the company’s arrival, officials created a tax incentive district that will lock in the company’s property taxes at the existing rate for five years.

“The school is probably going to be the biggest benefactor out of all of this because of the taxes on the property and the equipment,” Roy said of the post-abatement windfall.

Sofidel Group was founded in 1966 and is among the world leaders in the tissue paper production market, which includes items such as toilet paper, napkins, kitchen paper, handkerchiefs and tissues.