A Toronto-based fiberglass rebar supplier will invest more than $15.5 million and create 83 jobs to locate its first U.S. facility in the town of Bladenboro.
MST Rebar designs, engineers and manufactures fiberglass composite material for industrial construction projects. Started by two brothers in 2012, MST Rebar has become one of the most sustainable concrete reinforcement suppliers in the world. It will establish operations in a 56,000-square-foot facility that has been vacant for several years within the Bladenboro Industrial Park, says Chuck Heustess, director of the Bladen County Economic Development Commission.
The new jobs will pay an average wage of $54,361, which is 16% higher than the current Bladen County average wage of $46,867.
“These kinds of manufacturing jobs are the exact kind of cornerstone and investment that we need,” says Heustess.
The product MST Rebar makes is corrosion-resistant and stronger than steel, says MST Rebar President David Richardson in a release. The product’s relatively low weight also make it easier to use and ship. It is being used in the construction of North Carolina’s Alligator River Bridge on U.S. 64 in Tyrell and Dare counties, Richardson added.
“MST-BAR is a revolutionary industrial product,” says Richardson.
North Carolina’s use of the product helped attract the company to Bladen County, says Heustess.
North Carolina will provide a performance-based grant of $250,000 from the One North Carolina Fund to MST Rebar to help it establish a location in North Carolina. Bladen County still needs to vote on a local incentive package, says Heustess. The company will also get a $290,000 grant from the state’s Rural Infrastructure Authority grant program.
If Phase I of the project is successful, it could lead to further investment and the creation of hundreds of jobs, says Heustess.