PMC chemical plant expanding in N. Memphis
Parent firm won’t divulge many details
A North Memphis factory will expand as the New Jersey owner moves operations from Cincinnati.
PMC Biogenix makes chemicals derived from plant and animal fats to supply products for manufacturers of plastics, consumer goods, electronics, paints, packaging, personal care items, food, automotive products and pharmaceuticals.
The parent firm, privately owned PMC Group of Mount Laurel, N.J., issued a statement Tuesday announcing the Memphis expansion but gave few details. PMC apparently is not seeking additional tax breaks on the site.
While it is not clear how many new jobs might emerge at the chemical plant, a PMC expan- sion comes as manufacturing begins an upturn in metropolitan Memphis.
Between 1994 and 2012, the region lost 24,000 industrial jobs, wiping out almost $1 billion in annual manufacturing payrolls. Since 2012, Greater Memphis has added about 300 new factory jobs, bringing the total to 45,000 industrial jobs.
More than 5,000 more jobs are expected to come online over the next two years as Electrolux appliance, Mitsubishi Electric, KTG paper, Rockwool insulation and Schulz steel open new plants.
PMC officials would not comment Tuesday when The Commercial Appeal asked about new employment and investment. The plant, located off Warford at 1231 Pope, is the site of the old Humko Chemical Corp. founded by Memphis industrialist Herbert Humphrey.
The most recent compliance report for Memphis and Shelby County tax breaks, received in 2008, shows PMC employs 245 people who make an average of $64,532 a year before benefits, or $80,020 with benefits.
The EDGE (Economic Development Growth Engine) board document also shows PMC Bio-
genix has made a capital investment of $36 million since purchasing the site in 2008 from Chemtura Corp. .
Before Chemtura, the site was operated by Witco Corp., which acquired Humko.
In 2008, the old Industrial Development Board granted a 12-year payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT) that will save PMC Biogenix $4.2 million. However, the company has so far not applied for tax breaks for the upcoming expansion.
PMC announced Monday it is investing more resources in both its Memphis and Carrollton, Ky., plants by “consolidating” its manufacturing operations from Cincinnati.
The change is designed to improve production efficiency.
“In order to accommodate these products and support the future growth of the market, PMC will invest in significant capacity expansions and additions at its Carrollton and Memphis facilities for stabilizers, lubricants, tin intermediates, and ester intermediates,” the company said in its prepared statement.
“PMC’s investment underscores its commitment to the PVC additives market.” The transition starts in the last three months of this year and should be complete by the first quarter of next year, the company states.
A security guard in the Memphis factory’s guard house on Tuesday tried to prohibit The Commercial Appeal from taking photographs of the property from a public right of way.
Company officials described the decision to close the Cincinnati operation as “difficult.”
“The current economic environment drove the need to optimize the manufacturing footprint of the organometallics business,” Matthew Stershic, general manager of PMC Organometallix Inc., said in a statement released by PMC. “Our investments in this project will position the business to more efficiently serve its customers and invest in technological innovations for the future.”
In 2010, PMC Biogenics was Shelby County’s fifth leading discharger of nitrogen oxides, a key ingredient for ozone pollution. Complying with federal air-pollution standards has challenged Memphis for years.
PMC Group also operates in Memphis its Center for Renewable Chemistry.
The 3. 5-acre technical campus develops new products from renewable resources and provides technical and application support for its existing product lines.
The center is part of PMC’s larger, 42-acre manufacturing site in Memphis.
The technical center is the company’s cornerstone for developing products, processes and applications, according to PMC’s website.
“The campus includes a 16,000-square-foot technical center housing individual functional laboratories for product development, process development, application testing, instrumental analysis and wet analysis as well as an 8,000-square-foot pilot scale manufacturing facility equipped with a broad range of process equipment to develop new processes and produce scale up quantities for our customers.”
PMC’s Cincinnati operation is called PMC Specialties Group. That operation serves the agriculture, pharmaceutical, pigment and fertilizer manufacturing industries.
It makes a variety of chemicals, i ncluding “phthalic derivatives, hydrochloride and saccharin in addition to diazotization, hydrogenation, amidation and chlorination. It manufactures antioxidants, sweeteners, biocides, reodorants, bitterants, taste aversion products, metal protection materials and water treatment products,” the company website states. The Cincinnati operation also makes flavor and fragrance products.