The Sofidel Group facility is one of the largest in the state, but it is smaller than the Amazon logistics center (about 230 thousand square feet of work area) that will open in Tulsa later this year. However, the Rogers County facility is 38 percent larger than the Macy Logistics Center, which was built north of Tulsa in 2015.
According to Leslie Blair, spokeswoman for the Oklahoma Department of Commerce, the new Sofidel Group subsidiary also represents the largest manufacturing investment in the state in recent years, surpassing Commercial Metals Co. in Durant (by about $350 million) in 2015. Inola will be in terms of area Sofidel's second largest greenfield investment in the United States and the group's largest greenfield investment in this country.
The Rogers County campus is an integrated facility that incorporates both the paper mill, where pulp is converted into paper, and a converting plant, which produces the finished product. The site will be capable of producing 120,000 tons of tissue per year.
Spread over 97 hectares within the Inola River Rail Industrial Park, the company estimates that the site could double its capacity in a second phase, which could employ 600 people.
From its headquarters in Italy, Sofidel coordinates the activities of 19 companies in Europe and the United States. Founded in 1966, it is among the world's leading manufacturers of textiles for items such as toilet paper, napkins, paper towels and handkerchiefs. The company's best-known brand is Regina.
Source: Tulsa World