Italian auto parts maker Sogefi Group plans to invest $20m to expand its plant in Prichard, West Virginia, a move which is expected to create 250 new jobs.
Following the expansion, the plant will produce engine intake manifolds for General Motors as well as its existing line of fuel pumps and filters for other automakers. The plant will continue manufacturing integrated fluid filtration products.
The expansion project includes repurposing the plant's existing space of 215,000ft2 of production, warehouse and office area. The work is scheduled to begin in January 2014 and finish by May.
Financing for some of the equipment has already been approved by the West Virginia Economic Development Authority.
The latest expansion has been under discussion between Earl Ray Tomblin and Sogefi officials since 2012. The West Virginia Development Office, HADCO and the Wayne County Economic Development Authority collaborated on the expansion project.
Sogefi's Wayne County plant, which opened in 2004, produces parts for automobile engines, including fuel pumps, fuel filters, and oil filters.
Parts from the company's West Virginia plant are used by global automotive giants including Toyota, Ford, Fiat, Chrysler, BMW, Nissan, Mazda, Hyundai, and Kia. The plant produces more than 5 million pumps and filters every year.
