Southern Fabricators is expanding its Polkton facility in Anson County.
According to a news release from the Anson Economic Development Partnership, the company plans to invest up to $4.8 million at the plant and create 33 new jobs over the next two years.
The announcement was made Thursday at an open house hosted by the company and attended by elected officials and community leaders.
Southern Fabricators, founded in 1968, offers “build to print” metal fabrication and welding services from its 100,000 square foot facility in Polkton, 45 miles east of Charlotte. The planned expansion will include a 20,000-square-foot addition which will house an extended powder coat line and a new state-of-the-art industrial laser cutter.
The company currently employs 141.
In support of the project, the Rural Division of the N.C. Department of Commerce is providing a $165,000 building reuse grant, and Anson County is providing a $120,500 industrial tax grant, which was approved by the commissioners in July under the code name Project Rocky.
At the announcement event held at Southern Fabricators offices, company president Rocky Carpenter thanked local and state officials for their assistance with the project and talked about the company’s long history in Anson County.
”It takes a lot of people to make something like this happen and we want to thank all of our partners, especially the state of North Carolina and Anson County for helping us make this expansion a reality,” Carpenter said. “We love Anson County, it’s a special place to us and nothing makes us happier than putting the people here to work. The investment we are making may be in equipment, but equipment doesn’t make a company, people do, and we never lose sight of that.”
State Rep. Mark Brody echoed Carpenter’s remarks.
“The General Assembly is proud to support North Carolina families by voting to fund programs like Building Reuse which help local manufacturers create jobs,” Brody said.
“It’s exciting to see a multigenerational family business achieve the sustained success that Southern Fabricators has over its 50 years in Anson County. On behalf of the county, AnsonEDP and the Town of Polkton I want to hank the company for all it does to support our diverse and growing local economy,“ AnsonEDP executive director John B. Marek said in the release.
The Anson EDP said Gov. Roy Cooper, the General Assembly, the Rural Division of the N.C. Department of Commerce, the N.C. Community College System and Anson County assisted with the project.