IIR Industry Alert: Southeast Region Plants Diversify and Expand

    HOUSTON--March 18, 2003--Researched by Industrialinfo.com (Industrial Information Resources Inc.; Houston). The industrial manufacturing landscape of the U.S. Southeast Region, which consists of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi and Tennessee, has undergone some dynamic changes. The region, deeply rooted in southern tradition of agriculture and food processing, has been transformed into a diverse industrial base of highly technologically advanced manufacturing plants and complexes. Today, some 4,500 operational plants in the region manufacture products for world markets and employ over one million people.
    In the southeast, electrical generating facilities, pulp and paper mills, chemical processing and refining operations and automotive manufacturing plants represent some of Americas most competitive manufacturing assets. Recent expansions and capital improvement indicate the stability and strength of the future of manufacturing in the southeast.
    In Alabama, expansions of automotive manufacturing and assembly facilities lead all industrial sectors in capital investments. More than $500 million of expansion projects at existing plants are in the construction phase.
    Florida, widely known for its entertainment industry, has a strong industrial manufacturing sector with over $1 billion in expansions and modernizations underway. Among them, Titan America's $150 million modernization of its cement plant, and a $600 million re-powering of a local power plant.
    In Georgia, the forest products industry injects some $20 billion annually into the states economy and is the number one contributor in the manufacturing sector in employment and output. Nearly two hundred forest products plants make lumber, communication papers, tissue and towel paper, linerboard and reconstituted wood products. Industry leaders Weyerhaeuser Company, Georgia-Pacific Corp., Kimberly-Clark and International Paper operate some of the most modern and productive mills in Georgia.
    Mississippi has the fewest number of plants in the southeast region. Among them, is Chevron's 295,000-barrels-a-day refinery in Pascagoula, a carbon dioxide plant owned by Praxair Corporation and Whirlpool Corporation's appliance manufacturing plant in Oxford.
    Manufacturing in Tennessee is widely sustained by reliable electrical service from Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) electrical generating facilities. TVA has outlined more than a billion dollars of improvements over the next two years at more than 40 plants throughout the state. Eastman Chemical Company, headquartered in Kingsport, manufactures and markets chemicals, fibers and plastics. The company is also one of the largest employers in the state.
    IIR's new Southeast Online Plant Directory (OPD) includes over 9,000 key management contacts in over 4,500 industrial manufacturing plants. IIR's new online plant directories provide the convenience of online access from any Internet connection, and most importantly, with the use of our online technology, monthly updates insure that the most up-to-date information is appearing on your screen.
    For details on the Southeast Online Plant Directory check out the demo at http://www.industrialinfo.com/opd/opdsedemo/index.jsp or send inquiries to generalinquiry@industrialinfo.com or visit www.industrialinfo.com.