Italian manufacturer breaks ground on Inola paper plant
INOLA — Sofidel, an Italian manufacturer of tissue paper, broke ground Friday on a $360 million investment that will include construction of a facility that will support 300 jobs.
“Sofidel will build here a new modern, integrated plant to serve the south-central and central-western areas of this great country, where we have been operating since 2012,” Luigi Lazzareschi, CEO of Sofidel Group, said in a statement.
“I am glad to announce this new greenfield investment — the second one, after the first made in Ohio. This new investment will support our growth in the U.S. significantly.”
Expected to be operational by 2020, the 1.8 million-square-foot plant will be able to produce 120,000 tons of tissue paper each year.
“We have been growing year after year at a very fast pace,” Lazzareschi said.
Warm welcome
Among those attending the ceremony Friday at Public Service Co. of Oklahoma’s Inola River Rail Industrial Site were Gov. Mary Fallin and representatives of PSO, the Tulsa Regional Chamber, Rogers County and the city of Inola.
PSO, along with Rogers County and Inola leadership, recently invested in site preparation for the 1,100-acre area to make it available for industrial development. The site was previously the location of a canceled nuclear power plant.
“We are excited that Sofidel has continued confidence to make this tremendous investment in Oklahoma,” Fallin said. “This global company has seen the advantages Oklahoma provides in its current operation, and now will double down with a state-of-the-art production facility in Inola.”