By SCBIZ Staff

COLUMBIA -- Bericap, a major international producer of specialized plastic closures, announced Wednesday it will locate and build its new manufacturing plant in the Upstate Corporate Industrial Park in Cherokee County.

The company will invest about $20 million in the new facility. Construction of the first phase building, consisting of 90,000 square feet, will begin later this year with completion set for full production in early 2008. The site and building will allow room for future expansions.

The design of this new plant will feature and accommodate the use of automated state-of-the art equipment and processes in a climate-controlled environment. Operations will ramp-up in early 2008 on an around-the-clock production basis and will initially engage about 45 full-time operators and managers that will be recruited locally.

Job-specific training will be provided by the company through the Spartanburg Technical College program developed in coordination with South Carolina’s worker training program, readySC. Permanent employment with the company is projected to expand by about 10 positions per year.

“The plant will employ the latest building design technology. It will continue the tradition of our global commitment to fostering a culture of product and process excellence and innovation,” said Gunter Krautkrämer, Bericap Group managing director.

The location in the new Upstate Corporate Industrial Park provides easy access to Interstate 85 and meets the company’s strategic commitment to efficiently serve its expanding market areas within the Southeast United States. The South Carolina plant will be the company’s third North American facility to be created in 11 years. The other plants are located in Burlington, Calif., and Ontario, Canada. The new plant will provide both volume production relief and continued growth capabilities for existing and new innovative products.

The Upstate Corporate Industrial Park is a joint venture initiative by Spartanburg and Cherokee counties to bring new industry and jobs to the area. The counties will develop some 500 acres of land dedicated to the creation of the Upstate Corporate Industrial Park.