LEBANON, Pa.—Regupol America is expanding its U.S. headquarters in Lebanon, Pa., with the addition of a 120,000-sq.-ft. facility that will be built over the next couple of years on a newly acquired 11.7-acre parcel of land adjacent to its existing headquarters.
The company is spending an undisclosed sum to fund the expansion, the firm announced, and local news media reports estimate it is a multimillion-dollar project. Regupol America is a major manufacturer of rubberized flooring and athletic surfaces.
A ramp will attach the two buildings and further construction may be expected down the line, according to John Aten, vice president of sales and marketing.
"We want to expand our capabilities and increase how much we are able to produce at our location in Lebanon," he said. "We anticipate further expansion and the need to hire many new employees in the coming years."
The added space is not expected to house a new line or manufacturing process, but will provide for more manufacturing capabilities for the company's athletic and commercial surfaces. Its products find use in such applications as flooring for weight training rooms and indoor and outdoor track and field surfaces.
Regupol America also makes recycled rubberized products for acoustical control, which helps buildings and rooms maintain specific sound qualities, and load securement, underlayment and truck bedliners.
It is unclear yet how many new jobs will be added in the next few years, but Aten said more staff will be needed in manufacturing, operations and administration. He said more information about job growth plans will become available in the coming months.
More than 360 currently work for the parent company worldwide, and in excess of 100 people in Lebanon.
"In 2008, the goal was to get the business off the ground, and I'm happy to say we've grown to the point where we have to expand," said Regupol America President George Soukas. "The growth will create a substantial number of new, well-paying jobs."
The company declined to release revenue figures.
Regupol is best known for its track and field surfaces that meet Deutsches Institut fur Normung standards and International Amateur Athletic Federation guidelines.
The company uses more than 115 million pounds of rubber—made of 100-percent post-consumer tire rubber and post-industrial EPDM—and additional renewable resources in the manufacturing process.
Among the athletes that have publicly praised the company's products is three-time Olympic and World Championship gold medal sprinter Usain Bolt of Jamaica.
Regupol America is a subsidiary of Berleburger Schaumstoffwerk, a German-based company found¬ed in 1954 that uses recycled tires and other materials to manufacture a variety of rubberized surfaces.