50 Cent Not the Only Exciting Economic News for the Arklatex
While Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson has announced his plans for a movie and television entertainment complex for Shreveport, another Arklatex company has also announced exciting new expansion plans.
Industrial manufacturer Fibrebond announced a 50-million dollar expansion of its production facility in Minden. Officials say this will result in an estimated 650 new jobs to support the expansion. Minden Mayor Nick Cox says Fibrebond is the cornerstone of Webster Parish’s economy.
“The big talk around our parish and city, what is the future of Fibrebond, well five-years, 100-million dollars worth of estimates later I’m proud to say Fiberbond is here to stay,” Cox said.
The expansion allows Fibrebond to retain more than 450 existing jobs in northwest Louisiana. The family-owned company supports data center, telecommunications, industrial and utility projects across the United States.
Louisiana Economic Development Secretary Susan Bourgeois says Fibrebond is taking advantage of a retention and modernization state tax credit to build a new production facility.
“The project is especially exciting because it capitalizes on Louisiana’s existing manufacturing strength to create new opportunities in emerging markets such as data center and telecommunications infrastructure. That is a winning formula for Louisiana,” Bourgeois said.
Construction will begin in June and Mayor Nick Cox says this latest expansion will bring Fibrebond’s total manufacturing and warehouse space to more than one million square feet on its 254-acre campus.
“This investment shows a lot of faith to me in the hard working people of north Louisiana,” Cox said.
For 42 years the company has been family-owned and based in Minden.
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Gallery Credit: Mike Martindale