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Area Development - Site Selection, Facility Planning and Workforce Development

TCI Plastics Plans $36.5 Million Investment At Port Of New Orleans

04/29/2014
Jensen Companies plans to develop a new 500,000-square-foot logistics facility by TCI Plastics, a Jensen Companies division, at the Port of New Orleans, Louisiana. TCI will make a $36.5 million capital investment to build the facility at its France Road Wharf hub, with plans to create 160 jobs.

The new project continues TCI’s development of a mega-plastics district along a Gentilly inner harbor cargo site, located between the Mississippi River and Lake Pontchartrain. In July 2010, Governor Bobby Jindal and Jensen CEO Jack Jensen first announced a 150,000-square-foot facility to package and export plastics primarily produced by Louisiana chemical industries. The new additional 500,000-square-foot facility will increase the company’s ability to package and ship PVC resin and polyethylene, while adding the manufacturing capability of producing plastic film on site to package the products.

Governor Jindal said, “Here at one of the world’s greatest port cities, we are encouraging the expansion of major logistics facilities that will capture the tremendous growth we’re seeing in our state’s chemical industry. This growth can be further linked to Louisiana’s favorable business climate and strong, quality workforce.”

As part of the project, TCI will acquire 32 acres from the Port of New Orleans for $3.1 million. That property near its existing France Road operations will provide space for the new 500,000-square-foot building and additional expansion in the future. To meet the growing plastics shipping demand, TCI has leased more than 150,000 square feet of existing warehouse space and installed equipment at the Governor Nicholls Street Wharf in downtown New Orleans. The next expansion will enable TCI to build a state-of-the-art facility with new rail access to the New Orleans Public Belt Railroad that serves the port.

“This is a great day for us all,” Jensen Companies president Jack Jensen said. “Our city, our state and our port are competing for super-regional economic development opportunities – and we are winning them. TCI is ready to play its part in the value-added supply chain needed to keep Louisiana petrochemicals moving through Louisiana ports. Collectively, we have proven there’s appropriate infrastructure to handle this next wave of petrochemical investments right here in Louisiana, so quite literally there’s no place like home.”

To secure the project, the State of Louisiana offered a competitive incentive package that includes an $800,000 performance-based Economic Development Award Program grant, which will be used to offset the costs of building a rail spur connecting the TCI facility to the New Orleans Public Belt Railroad. That rail line provides access to all six Class I railroads, making New Orleans the nation’s only seaport with such access. TCI also is expected to utilize the state’s Quality Jobs and Industrial Tax Exemption programs.

TCI Plastics will begin construction of the project in mid-2014, and the facility is scheduled for completion in the third quarter of 2016. Louisiana Economic Development said the company will create 50 new direct jobs by 2015 and reach the full employment of 160 new jobs by 2020.

“Greater New Orleans Inc. is proud to have played a leading role in assisting TCI with this major expansion effort,” said President/CEO Michael Hecht of GNO Inc. “The creation of this new plastics facility signifies the magnitude of opportunity for value-added manufacturing in greater New Orleans. We look forward to continuing to work with TCI to ensure their ongoing success.

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