Tissue Maker to Locate New Facility in South Carolina

First Quality Tissue LLC has selected Anderson, S.C., for the site of a new tissue/towel manufacturing facility.

After an extensive site-selection process in which the company considered multiple locations in the United States, First Quality Tissue said it picked Anderson County due to its proximity to the growing Southeastern market, quality infrastructure and low energy costs, among other factors.

Among the factors that attracted First Quality to Anderson are the pool of skilled labor, positive work ethic and the availability of the infrastructure necessary to sustain our facility, said Frank Ludovina, company representative for First Quality. As important, however, is the pro-business environment that has been created there. First Qualitys decision to locate in South Carolina would not have been possible without the abundant support from Governor [Mark] Sanford, the team at the Department of Commerce and officials from Anderson County. We appreciate South Carolinas commitment to First Quality and look forward to a prosperous partnership in the years ahead.

First Quality Tissue will acquire the former Shaw Industries facility on Masters Boulevard, where it will construct its new manufacturing facilities. The initial plans for the facility call for the installation of two thru-air-dried machines, doubling First Qualitys current capacity. First Quality anticipates having the first machine operational in the third quarter of 2011 and the second machine online by the third quarter of 2012.

First Quality Tissue, which is part of Great Neck, N.Y.-based First Quality Enterprises, plans to invest $1 billion and create 1,000 new jobs to support its new production facility.

First Quality Tissue expects the initial operations to begin in 2011 and will begin the hiring process in the third quarter of 2010. The company anticipates hiring 200 positions at that time.