New Milledgeville manufacturing plant to create 1,000 jobs

A manufacturing company plans to move into a vacant building in Milledgeville, creating more than 1,000 jobs.

Sparta Industries, a manufacturer of HVAC duct liner insulation, is opening a new plant in the former Rheem Manufacturing building on Roberson Mill Road. The venture represents a capital investment of $22.5 million during the next five years, according to a news release from Gov. Nathan Deal’s office.

“Georgia’s pro-business climate, highly-skilled workforce and manufacturing infrastructure continue to attract innovative manufacturers like Sparta Industries,” Deal said in the release. “This Milledgeville facility will bolster the company’s growth and further demonstrate why Georgia is a top destination for job creators.”

Sparta Industries manufactures foam insulation for the commercial building industry using a zero emission process, the release said. The principal owners of the company, who are chemists, engineers and professors, live in various states across the country, Matt Poyner, executive director of the Development Authority of the City of Milledgeville and Baldwin County, said Tuesday afternoon.

“They have designed some breakthrough technologies that they are going to be using,” Poyner said. “Their main market is European, so they are going to be exporting a tremendous amount of goods out of Milledgeville. ... They expect to have 40 trucks in and out every day.”

The company hopes to begin renovation of the building in 60 to 90 days, he said.

“They want to start hiring, hopefully, in the November-December time frame, with production to begin first quarter of next year,” Poyner said. “Those are the tentative schedules.”

The company will hire operation, supervision and maintenance personnel for the plant and warehouse, as well as sales and administrative positions. The Georgia Department of Labor was involved in early discussions with the company, Poyner said, and has be involved in the hiring process.

“We look forward to working closely with the community,” Sparta Industries Chief Financial Officer Jeremy Meighan said in the release. “Together we can make a well-deserved economic impact on Milledgeville and the surrounding areas.”

Since Sparta is a start-up company, the state of Georgia didn’t offer any incentives to bring it to the state, Poyner said.

“Locally, we gave them a 15-year tax abatement,” he said. Because Rheem was paying about $50,000 a year in taxes, Sparta will begin paying about the same amount for the first eight years, and then its taxes will begin to increase through year 15 when it will be paying the full tax amount.

The new company is an economic boost to Milledgeville, which has lost hundreds of jobs from plant closures and the closure of state prisons during the past decade.

“We needed this,” Poyner said. “We needed to get that building back and running and get those jobs back. It’s going to have a ripple effect for us. We’re excited. We hope this is the momentum we’ve been trying to build to get some industry back in town. ... This obviously is a huge win for us.”

Rheem Manufacturing announced the closure of the Milledgeville plant in 2009 during the economic downturn. At the time, the plant, which made heating and cooling products for the residential industry, had about 800 permanent employees and 400 seasonal workers. The 677,000-square-foot building remained vacant until Sparta Industries agreed to purchase the property.

“There are not a whole lot of big buildings like this available,” Poyner said. “Macon’s got the Brown & Williamson (Tobacco Corp.) building, which was too big. (Sparta) needed rail, and they needed a large facility. They looked in Alabama and a couple of communities in Georgia.”

Chat Daniel, chairman of the Development Authority of the City of Milledgeville and Baldwin County, said in the release that he is “optimistic about a great future and partnership with Sparta Industries. This community is ready to assist them as they get up and running.”

Sparta founder and Chairman Walter Sommerman has overseen the construction of 32 plants, 24 of those in the U.S., the release said. Each of the 32 plants has been profitable since inception.

This story was originally published May 10, 2016 at 1:30 PM with the headline "New Milledgeville manufacturing plant to create 1,000 jobs."