MACON -- Noxubee County this week received an "economic boost" from the opening of a large wood products company, according to Brian Wilson, executive director of the Noxubee Economic and Community Development Alliance.
The Thomasson Co. Tuesday celebrated the grand opening of its Macon Treating Co. on Highway 45 South.
The treating company will occupy a 6-acre plot next to the East Mississippi Pole Co., also owned by the Philadelphia-based Thomasson Co., and will allow Thomasson to treat and manufacture wooden poles in one location.
Once the poles are manufactured at the East Mississippi Pole Co., they now can be treated at the neighboring treatment facility rather than shipped elsewhere to be treated, explained Pat Thomasson, chief executive officer of the Thomasson Co.
"We are blessed with an outstanding network of suppliers," Thomasson wrote in a press release. "But having a our own treatment capability supplements that alliance and makes certain our ability to meet future demand."
The addition of the treatment plant to Thomasson's Macon facility represents $3 million investment in the county and city, said Wilson.
"Thomasson is an outstanding corporate neighbor," Wilson wrote in a press release, noting the company has been operating the East Mississippi Pole Co. in Macon since 2005. "We welcome the addition of the Macon Treating Co.
"These (two) facilities have already brought 26 new jobs to the area, with the potential for more as business grows," Wilson added.
The facility opening comes about six months after more than 80 employees were laid off when Macon's Outdoor Technologies on Highway 45 South shut its doors.
Although the Outdoor Technologies facility was recently purchased by the Pro Via door company, the facility initially will employ about 50 people.
Neal Wagner is a Staff Reporter for The Commercial Dispatch.
