A Wide Variety of Products Are Manufactured Here
Published May 11, 2009
Thanks to a company called Novelis, Madison County is a major importer - but not of a conventional product. The Novelis Inc. plant in Berea is the world’s largest aluminum-can recycling facility, and used beverage cans literally pour into the sprawling facility via rail and truck.
“Our cans come from all over the U.S., from as far away as California, and we do bring some in from Canada and Mexico,” says Ernie Corvi, Novelis-Berea plant manager.
Incorporated in Canada, Novelis leads the world in the production of rolled aluminum. The company has 32 production facilities in 11 countries and six can-recycling operations.
While some U.S. communities face an industrial decline, Madison County’s manufacturing sector, with an estimated 8,000 jobs, is growing, diverse and internationally flavored.
From glass to vinyl extrusions, underground wiring to pressure-sensitive tape and industrial batteries to paint, products manufactured in Madison County are astoundingly varied. Part of the mix is home-grown industry KI (USA) Corp., founded in Berea in 1988 as a producer of metal stamped parts and welded assemblies for the automotive industry.
Location and Workforce Hailed
Novelis’ Berea plant, which opened in 1989, now employs about 100 people. Used cans arrive in bales, which are broken up and the cans shredded. A de-coating process burns off the cans’ lacquer. Then they are loaded into one of four furnaces that burn at 750 degrees Celsius. The molten aluminum is cast into 60,000-pound ingots, which are shipped to a Novelis plant in Russellville, Ky., for rolling into coils, ultimately used by beverage-can manufacturers. “One of our ingots makes about 1.6 million cans, so our facility here would produce about 16 billion cans a year,” Corvi says.
He adds that Madison County’s central location “gives us an advantage,” as does the skill and reliability of the local workforce.
The workforce is one reason Sub-Zero Wolf Inc. chose Richmond as the site of a new manufacturing plant, according to Jimmy Howard, executive director of the Richmond Industrial Development Corp. “There are 40-some industries in Richmond when you count everybody,” Howard says.
A manufacturer of high-end kitchen appliances, Sub-Zero Wolf announced in August 2007 its intention to invest $35.5 million and employ about 100 workers. The plant will manufacture dishwashers, a new product for the company.
In January 2008, the company bought nearly 42 acres in Richmond Industrial Park South II as the site for a 200,000-square-foot facility.
The economic downturn has forced Sub-Zero Wolf to slow its plans, but the company is still committed to Richmond, Howard says. While holding on to its 42 acres, Sub-Zero Wolf bought nearly 11 adjoining acres, and the company is building an 80,000-square-foot plant on the site. Operations are expected to launch by the end of 2009 with at least 50 employees. “The other acreage is sitting there, prepared, ready to build on,” Howard says.
Story by Sharon H. Fitzgerald
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