Italian company Flame Spray S.p.A. has selected Laurens County, South Carolina, for a $9.2 million investment to establish a thermal spray coating manufacturing plant there. The expansion will create 50 jobs in the next five years. Flame Spray North America will operate the facility.

"Laurens County provided us with an excellent production facility and has the skilled work force to suit our needs. Flame Spray would like to thank everyone at the South Carolina Department of Commerce and the Laurens County Development Corporation for all their hard work and assistance in helping us establish operations in Laurens County, South Carolina. We look forward to starting production at our new facility and growing our market share throughout North America," said Marco Prosperini, managing director of Flame Spray S.p.A. and president and CEO of Flame Spray North America.

Flame Spray has headquarters in Roncello, Italy, and specializes in thermal spray coatings, diffusion coatings, slurry coatings, cladding, and welding processes.