New Company on the Horizon Invests in Business Community

More than a year before it is expected to be operational, a new tenant in the Augusta Corporate Park is joining the business community.

PureCycle Technologies, Inc., a Florida-based company that converts #5 plastic waste to a renewable resource, broke ground in March 2022 on a $250 million facility in the park off Mike Padgett Highway.

“They are grading the site. They started two weeks ago,” Cal Wray, President of the Augusta Economic Development Authority (AEDA), updated ABD. “They started the week before Thanksgiving, so they were finally grading the site under their permit from the city as they continue to push their Ironton (Ohio) facility forward, which is operating and is producing product. They’re still working through some hiccups, and they want to have the Ironton facility fully operational and producing at capacity before they construct the building in Augusta.”

Even though construction of the project, with an estimated investment of $440 million, has not even started, the new member list published in the weekly newsletter from the Augusta Metro Chamber of Commerce listed PureCycle as a Cornerstone Member.

“Cornerstone Level Investment represents a tremendous value for businesses wishing to maximize their visibility and monetary dedication to the Chamber,” explains the Chamber website. “Those businesses that invest in the Chamber at the Cornerstone Level are considered to be the leading advocates of the Chamber as reflected by their significant financial contributions.”

Cornerstore Chamber members invest between $10,000 and $1,000 depending on the level and number of employees.

“They’re taking a lot of hints from Aurubis (Richmond, LLC) since seeing how involved Aurubis is in the community, how they’ve hired 160 people fairly quickly, and they are trying to get ingrained in the community as they continue to try to push their project forward,” Wray said.

Also listed as a new Chamber member is Gulfspan Industrial, LLC. The Texas-based company is partnered with PureCycle on both the plant in Ironton and the one coming to Augusta.

PureCycle expects to create 80 jobs to operate the Augusta facility. Wray said the company has already hired one employee to lead their environmental and safety group.

“She’s going to Orlando, she’s going to Ironton, she’s going to other areas to help, and she is learning in the process,” Wray said. “They want to be prepared once they’re ready to begin construction, that their name is known, and that they will have an easier time hiring and recruiting.”

PureCycle is just one of several companies in various stages of development in the corporate park.

“You have two construction companies doing work, three separate engineering companies doing work. You have a couple of architecture firms doing work,” he said, adding some tenants have employees already on the job. “You’ve got 150 employees for Aurubis. You’ve got the one employee for PureCycle. You’ve got a handful of employees now for GF Casting. They’ve completed their grading. They just got their shell permit yesterday. So, you should see buildings start going up in early February.”

Wray believes construction on the PureCycle facility will begin in 2025 with a target opening in 2026. In the meantime, people can monitor the company.

“They’re publicly traded and they have quarterly earnings calls that anybody could jump on. You can follow their stock price on the stock exchange. They do quarterly updates and probably sometimes more on social media so people can start following their progress,” he said.

The company’s website is https://www.purecycle.com/ or follow the company on Facebook.

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