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| | Friday, November 20, 2015
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SI Group Community Advisory Panel The SI Group held it's Community Advisory Panel session earlier this week. Dan Dickens, Senior Manager of Newport Operations reported that the plant has a good working relationship with both the Newport and Cocke County Fire Departments. The employees do fire drills with the local firemen in an effort to alleviate any concerns that the firefighters man have about responding to a blaze in a chemical plant. The facility with 33 employees produces Biphenal, a product used in the manufacture of high end plastics that are chemical and heat resistant. It also produces isobutylene. The plant currently is in the running for a new product line, and is competing with South Carolina and South Korea for the $65 million expansion. Dickens says the local facility has the inside track because of the available land for expansion as well as a competitive labor force. Cocke County authorities , as an incentive, have agreed to "forgive" either the personal property tax or the property taxes on the plant, one of the two, for eight years at 100 percent, if the expansion comes to Newport. The move would add about 12 new high-paying positions. Currently the facility produces 53,000 pounds of Biphenal daily, or 17.5 million pounds annually. The shipping is handled by Renner Trucking of Newport, and Dickens says the reliability of the trucking firm gives his company an advantage over the competition. "We kill the competition with lower shipping costs and quick delivery," Dickens said. Virtually all of the waste from the production goes into two by-products; liquid petroleum gas and solvents. The SI Group at one time faced stiff competition from China, but today the plant has captured the market, and now is shipping it's product to both Asia and Europe.
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