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Area Development - Site Selection, Facility Planning and Workforce Development

Knauf Insulation Expands Its Lanett, Alabama, Production Center

10/16/2014
Knauf Insulation will double production at its manufacturing center in Lanett, Alabama, with plans to add as many as 100 new workers. The company will invest more than $30 million to revitalize and upgrade the plant’s equipment, boosting output of the energy efficient material.

The plant recycles 835,000 glass bottles each day, turning those bottles into glass strands that become insulation used in buildings. The plant’s technology is so advanced that it can transform one bottle into a glass strand 3,000 miles long.

Knauf Insulation Senior Vice President Jon Pereira said the company selected the Lanett plant for expansion over other locations in the Shelbyville, Indiana-based company’s network. The project should be complete by mid-2015.

The expansion represents the second investment the company has made in the Chambers County plant since spring 2013, when it launched a $20 million project to resume production at the facility mothballed in 2011 due to a severe construction industry downturn. Knauf Insulation’s Lanett facility employs 120 people.

“Between the people of Alabama and the government of Alabama, it has been a great experience for Knauf Insulation to start up this plant,” said Aaron Wine, General Manager of the Lanett plant. “That made the decision to expand it a lot easier.”

Alabama Secretary of Commerce Greg Canfield said state and local officials have been working to position the 800,000-square-foot facility in Lanett as ripe for additional investment since production resumed last year. The expansion solidifies the Alabama plant’s future by raising its production capacity, he added.

“The Alabama team welcomes Knauf Insulation’s decision to expand its state-of-the-art operation in Chambers County and add 100 new jobs to its workforce there,” Secretary Canfield said. “We will continue to provide support to companies like Knauf and the communities where they operate because success benefits both sides.”

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