Investments in 2 Georgia plants bring promises of more jobs

ATLANTA, Ga. – Some big economic news broke Thursday in the Peach State: The federal government will spend $75 million to help build a factory making glass parts for computer chips, while a company that makes disposable baby diapers and wipes says it will spend $418 million to expand its Macon plant.

In Covington

The U.S. Department of Commerce announced an investment Thursday in Absolics, part of South Korea’s SK Group.

The plant in Covington was announced in 2021. The company said Thursday that it will spend more than $300 million on a first phase, with plans to hire 300 workers. The company could spend more money and hire more workers later, spokesperson Kelsey Flora said.

Construction is underway, and test batch production has begun, Flora said. Production is supposed to begin increasing in 2025.

The plant will make a glass substrate that is used to package semiconductors. Federal officials say the substrate will enable more densely packed connections between semiconductors, leading to faster computers that use less electricity.

The Department of Commerce said this is the first time the CHIPS and Science Act has been used to fund a factory making a new advanced material for semiconductors. The 2022 federal law authorized the spending of $280 billion to aid the research and manufacturing of semiconductors in the United States.

The technology was developed at Georgia Tech in Atlanta. The SK Group hired a former researcher from the university to help commercialize the substrate.

“It is strategically essential that the United States have this domestic manufacturing capacity, and it’s a tremendous opportunity for the state of Georgia to lead the nation in manufacturing and innovation,” U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff told reporters on Thursday. The Georgia Democrat has supported the effort.

SK Group owns an adjoining plant that makes polyester films that can be used on solar panels, in packaging and for other uses. The Korean conglomerate also owns a $2.6 billion complex to make batteries for electric vehicles in Commerce, northeast of Atlanta.

In Macon

A company that makes disposable baby diapers, training pants and baby wipes announced Thursday that it will spend $418 million to expand its Macon plant, hiring 600 new employees.

First Quality Enterprises, based in Great Neck, New York, had announced in March that it would expand its capacity to make baby diapers and training pants by 50%, including a new factory, new diaper and training pant manufacturing lines and a new automated warehouse.

The company has said the expansion is expected to be completed by June 2025. The new buildings will be next to the company’s current facility in Macon, which has 580 employees. First Quality has owned that plant since buying it from Covidien Retail Products in 2008.

“This expansion is a testament to First Quality’s innovative products and continuing commitment to the baby diaper market,” Allen Bodford, president of First Quality’s Absorbent Hygiene Division, said in a statement.

First Quality makes diapers, training pants, wipes and absorbent underwear for adults that is generally sold by retailers under store brands. The company is owned by the Damaghi family, which founded it in 1989.

The state in the past has paid to train workers for First Quality.

State and local officials did not immediately disclose what incentives they offered to First Quality. The company could qualify for $12 million in state income tax credits, at $4,000 per job over five years, as long as workers earn at least $33,000 a year.

Copyright 2024 WRDW/WAGT. All rights reserved.