Sediver opens new West Memphis plant

Sediver opens new West Memphis plant

Facility the latest addition to booming industrial park

news@theeveningtimes.com

Location, location, location — Sediver CEO Peter Baumgartner and Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson each declared West Memphis as just the right place to make toughened glass insulators for high-voltage transmission lines during a ribbon cutting opening on Friday. The $15 million Sediver USA plant is located in the Mid-America Industrial Park and opened production Friday afternoon with 35 employees with plans to grow to 75 workers.

“There are a lot of reasons we picked West Memphis,” said Baumgartner in a personal interview. “The main reasons are there are very qualified people here to employ. Second, it is an ideal logistical situation.

We are perfectly located here. Third, we have major (power transmission) projects in the near future which are located very near to here. Sediver supplies key components that make transmission lines reliable.” The governor touted West Memphis as a logistic hub.

Hutchinson said the city is and ideal location citing specifically the navigable Mississippi and the city port, the Interstate highway and national rail way crossroads.

“I am pleased Sediver made the decision to invest in Arkansas,” said Hutchinson. ”Our talented workforce combined with our low cost of doing business and logistical advantages make Arkansas the perfect place to build a high-tech manufacturing facility. I look forward to seeing the economic impact this facility will bring to the West Memphis Area.”

Projections point to a 3.5 million dollar annual local economic impact spinning from Sediver USA expediters and payroll at the expected staffing level of 75.

William Tucker runs the new Sediver USA facility.

He said West Memphis was the right place because of training at ASU-Mid South and the quality of job applicants.

“We’ve been very pleased by the caliber of people applying for jobs at the West Memphis Facility,” said Tucker. “They’ve embraced training and are demonstrating a strong commitment to building a top-quality product.

Baumgartner indicated it wasn’t just the right place but also the right time.

Based in France, Sediver has done manufacturing in Italy and China. The West Memphis plant is the first new facility in the company in two decades and represents a foray into the United States.

“We see clear signs that America’s transmission and distribution utilities are ready to invest in high quality components to ensure reliable power to their customers,” said Baumgartner. “Sediver is committed to best-in-class products and having a state-of-theart manufacturing facility located in the U.S. gives us an opportunity to do that.”

In addition to manufacturing the plant houses a testing lab for quality assurance, product development and training for the energy transmission and distribution community.

Asked during the morning inauguration when the plant will be in operation CEO Baumgartner replied, “30 minutes after we clean-up

lunch.”

By John Rech