Trex Company, a leading brand of wood-alternative composite decking materials and high-performance outdoor living products, has announced plans to develop a new production site in Little Rock. Trex, which continues to experience broad-based demand driven by increasing consumer interest in outdoor living, believes that building a third U.S.-based manufacturing facility should enable the company to provide customers significantly better access to Trex Residential products where and when they need them, and position the company for future growth.
“This new site represents a strategic investment not only in our company’s future but in the future success of our valued channel partners,” said Trex Company President and CEO Bryan Fairbanks. “With the outdoor living category continuing to show strong momentum and our success to-date in converting share from the wood decking market, the time is right to further expand our capacity so that we can meet future customer demand efficiently and effectively.”
Trex believes the new production complex, to be located within the Port of Little Rock, should increase the company’s ability to meet the anticipated strong demand for its industry-leading decking and railing products. Based on the company’s search parameters, Little Rock emerged as the best fit for Trex’s immediate and future needs with a location closer to essential raw materials, a strong pool of qualified and skilled labor, proximity to key growth regions for wood conversion, and adjacency to major transportation hubs that will offer optimized freight costs for customers in the middle of the country who are presently served by existing facilities in Virginia and Nevada. Adding capacity also positions the company to better serve its distribution and retail partners domestically and abroad.
Trex expects to invest an estimated $400 million over the next five years in the development of the new Arkansas site, funded primarily through ongoing cash generation. The Trex campus will sit on nearly 300 acres of land and will eventually include buildings dedicated to decking and railing production, plastic film recycling and processing, reclaimed wood storage, warehousing and administrative offices. Construction is slated to begin in early 2022. The development approach will be modular and calibrated to demand trends with the first production output anticipated in 2024. The campus will substantially expand output and will have the potential to be the company’s largest manufacturing facility.
“This is an exciting day for the city of Little Rock and all of Central Arkansas,” said Gov. Asa Hutchinson. “Trex is highly regarded as the world’s premier composite decking company, and it is with great pleasure that we welcome them to Arkansas. The company was looking at several locations, but Arkansas stood out thanks to its dedicated workforce, competitive business environment, location and superb quality of life. The jobs created by Trex will significantly enhance our economic climate, and I look forward to watching Trex grow and succeed in the coming years.”
Over time, Trex will bring more than 500 new jobs to the Little Rock area. The company will be interviewing candidates for key positions starting this fall and will broaden its recruiting efforts for both salaried and hourly positions in spring 2022. Information about available positions will be posted online to the Trex Careers page.
“This is another large addition to the Port of Little Rock that will add in excess of 500 jobs, and which we expect to grow and bring additional high paying jobs to support this investment,” said Pulaski County Judge Barry Hyde. “This project wouldn’t be possible without a talented regional workforce from 22 Arkansas counties who travel to the Port for work each and every day.”
The entire portfolio of Trex decking is manufactured from 95 percent recycled materials, including a mix of reclaimed wood scrap and discarded plastic film. As one of the largest recyclers of polyethylene in North America, Trex works through a number of commercial partnerships and community programs across the country to source plastic waste through its NexTrex recycling program. Among its largest sources are grocery stores and other retailers who partner with Trex to responsibly dispose of plastic shopping bags and polyethylene film used to wrap products and pallets. The company also sponsors an annual Trex Plastic Film Recycling Challenge that engages students in grades K-12 in collecting and recycling plastic film while teaching them how plastic waste can find a second life in the form of high-performance Trex® composite decking.
“The Chamber is thrilled to welcome Trex to our region’s growing economy,” said Little Rock Regional Chamber Chairman John Burgess. “Having worked closely with the project team, it is clear why this company has been nationally recognized as one of America’s Best Mid-Size Companies, and we look forward to supporting them moving forward as they establish and grow within Little Rock.”
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