Published: May 06, 2008 08:47 pm            

DuPont: creating 200 jobs in Orange

By Ashley Sanders

The Orange Leader



A local industrial giant is making plans to expand it’s workforce.

DuPont announced Tuesday that it is investing approximately $150 million to expand and upgrade manufacturing facilities in the United States, Europe and Asia — and a large chunk of that money is heading to Orange.

According to a press release issued Tuesday, more than half of this $150 million investment is expected to be spent between the Sabine River Works plant in Orange and a site in Victoria, Texas. The investment, which is designed to meet the strong demand for DuPont’s specialty ethylene copolymers in photovoltaics, packaging and automotive markets, is expected to take place over a three-year time period, begining in 2008.

"This announcement is great news for the Sabine River Works,” said Mike Sanchez, Sabine River Works site manager, in a statement issued Tuesday. “This is a vote of confidence in our future by our global business leadership."

According to DuPont officials, Sabine River Works expects to hire about 200 people into full-time jobs in the next three years. Those positions include workers to install distributed control systems (DCS), enhance DuPont’s capabilities to produce Surlyn® and Vamac®, and improve energy efficiency by as much as 15 percent.

“This (entire) investment will result in over 200 million pounds of additional capacity, enhanced capability of our current facilities, and reduced energy consumption of our operations,” said William F. Weber, global director of DuPont Ethylene Copolymers, in a statement issued Tuesday. “Importantly, it will accelerate DuPont’s ability to respond to rapidly growing demand as we serve our customers worldwide.”

        

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