Frontier Yarns Plans $8 million expansion

February 18, 2008

Frontier Yarns plans a major investment in new equipment and building upgrades at its Wetumpka yarn-spinning plant on Central Plank Road.

Frontier Yarns LLC and the Elmore County Economic Development Authority announced the $8 million equipment and building upgrades in a press release Friday morning. ECEDA officials said the expansion would be completed this year. Company officials expect the expansion to add 12 jobs to Wetumpka’s workforce. Around 300 area residents are currently employed by Frontier Yarns.

ECEDA Board Chairman Butch Ruttan said the company’s plans are a compliment to the people of Wetumpka.

“It’s always good to see our existing businesses have expansions,” Ruttan said.

The $8 million investment demonstrates the confidence Frontier Yarns executives have in Elmore County’s workers and it shows economic development officials are “doing what we need to be doing,” he added.

Frontier Yarns is the fifth-largest manufacturing employer in Elmore County, according to the Economic Development Authority.

Industrial Development Board member Sam Turner said the expansion would focus on enhancing the spinning plant’s efficiency and production. Frontier Yarns manufactures cotton yarn and operates a highly automated cotton spinning facility on Alabama Highway 9 in Wetumpka.

County Commissioner Don Whorton welcomed news of the expansion Friday.

“We’re always glad to see new or existing businesses expand, because of the jobs it creates for the county,“ Whorton, who chairs the commission’s economic development committee, said.

In the press release, Frontier Yarns thanked its partners in the expansion, including the city of Wetumpka, the city’s Industrial Development Board, ECEDA, the county commission and the state of Alabama. The North Carolina-based company operates two Alabama manufacturing facilities - here and in Lafayette - and others in North Carolina.

For more information on the county’s efforts to attract industries and employers, see the ECEDA Web site at www.elmoreeda.com.