Canadian corporation mulls aluminium foundry in Richland County

Linamar Inc., headquartered near Toronto, is considering development of a 300-job aluminium foundry and automotive components plant near Blythewood off Interstate 77.

The Canadian corporation also would acquire the existing Pure Power Technologies plant in Richland County as part of the plan to establish the foundry nearby, Linamar chief operating officer Jim Jarrell said Friday. The Linamar foundry would be jointly owned with GF Automotive, a Swiss automobile industry supplier.

The company also is looking at a site near Asheville, N.C., where Linamar already has a facility. The company is weighing incentive packages from both Carolinas and should make a decision by Christmas, Jarrell said. Plans are not final yet.

“Both states have rolled out the red carpet to us,’’ Jarrell told The State newspaper. He said the investment in a Carolinas’ site would top $100 million.

Paul Livingston, who chairs Richland County Council’s economic development committee, said he’s aware of an incentives package under discussion for the Blythewood area. The county’s economic development office is heading the effort, he said.

Linamar and GF Automotive jointly announced last summer that they were looking for a spot in the southeastern United States for a “high pressure, light metal die-casting plant.’’ The July news release did not specify a location, but said the companies hoped to begin operating the facility in 2017.

Jarrell said developing the Blythewood property for a foundry is attractive because of the nearby Pure Power Technologies manufacturing plant the company also wants to acquire. Maps of the area indicate the foundry would be on about 150 acres near Westwood High School.

Pure Power, which makes automobile fuel injectors and employs more than 200 people, would eventually be used as a finishing plant for automobile components made at the Linamar-GF Automotive foundry, according to plans.

The proximity of Pure Power to the foundry would help the company avoid the expense of shipping parts hundreds of miles to a finishing plant, he said. Jarrell noted that Pure Power already has a skilled labor force that would be valuable to Linamar’s long-term plans.

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