IT-TRI LLC plans to invest up to $68 million to build a new steel tubing and pipe manufacturing plant in Trinity, Alabama, with plans to create 100 jobs in Lawrence County before 2016.

Rick Werner, the company’s President, said IT-TRI expects to break ground this fall and to begin operations by the end of 2014. “Having two raw material suppliers in Alabama, Nucor Steel in Decatur and U.S. Steel in Birmingham, and due to the growing Southern demand for pipe, the company began looking at sites in the Southeast United States for this new plant,” Werner said. “The ease of dealing with the Industrial Development Board of Lawrence County and the State of Alabama helped solidify the company’s decision to acquire 75 acres in the Mallard Fox West Industrial Complex in Lawrence County.”

“The responsiveness that we received from Governor Bentley and the Alabama Department of Commerce was outstanding,” Werner added. “Working with the Industrial Development Board and the local officials in Lawrence County ensured that all of our anticipated needs have been met. We are looking forward to hiring from an excellent local talent pool recruited and trained in cooperation with AIDT.”

“On the state and local levels, we are committed to attracting more jobs to Lawrence County and to all of Alabama,” Gov. Robert Bentley said. “We have the best workforce of any state in the country. We have good people who are ready to work hard and help this company succeed.”

“I appreciate the investment that IT-TRI is making in Lawrence County,” Bentley added. “And I want people to know that our efforts to recruit more jobs will continue until everyone who needs a job is able to find one.”

Tony Stockton, Executive Director of the Lawrence County Industrial Development Board, said IT-TRI LLC is the board’s latest partner in developing the Mallard Fox West Industrial Complex. “The promise of 100 jobs is exciting, and the entire county will benefit from this excellent industry locating here,” Stockton said. “Our industrial development team has worked extremely hard to make this project a reality, and we’re anxious to have the facility operational in 2014.”