A waste-to-renewable chemicals plant will make southeast Missouri its future home.
A groundbreaking today in New Madrid welcomes Circular Syntech to town. The company will convert trash and other waste into renewable chemicals.
New Madrid City Administrator Richard McGill tells Missourinet the 200-acre campus includes an initial investment of about $90 million – creating about 40 high-paying jobs to begin with.
Plant focused on cleaning up the environment is headed to Missouri
“I see it as something that will really change southeast Missouri,” says McGill. “It could change Missouri but it’s also going to change that industry. There’s nobody that’s doing this in the country that in the patented way that they are able to do. A lot of the companies that do it, it’s a seven-step process. This company has reduced it down to a one-step process and it’s more environmentally friendly than the others. People don’t think, I mean, they think of southeast Missouri as these poor communities of smaller populations. But when you look at it on a whole, there’s a big workforce to draw from. So, I think the more that we have the more vibrant our communities will be.”
The average pay will be about $65,000.
McGill says the plant has the potential to add many more jobs in the future.
“Moving forward, like I said, there’s room for 98 production lines on that side. So, you start to factor that and the amount that’s going to be put back in our community through that, the amount of construction work that will continue through that. You know, $90 million is significant to me, but over time, it’s going to be kind of mind blowing on how much is invested in this community,” he says.
McGill says there’s a lot of excitement in the community about this development.
“I think anything new always draws excitement. But I think one thing that that people see with this, and that we really hope to see, is people that want to work in a field that makes a difference. And I think this, from an environmental standpoint really makes a difference. It’s not something that they’re attacking other industries that maybe aren’t as environmentally friendly. They’re simply looking to do things in a way that will benefit and get rid of greenhouse gas emissions, both on the on the front end and the end product. Unfortunately, a lot of small communities are drying up and just withering away. For a community like ours, this is something that will not only keep us strong but make us stronger moving forward.”
The company considered several different sites around the U.S. before choosing New Madrid.
“Honestly, they found some of the states and some of the communities they worked in just to be difficult to work with. And I think that the day that their COO visited New Madrid, he realized what a fit it was when he met with city and county officials. He saw what it would be like to work with us – to help get this company started. But it was it was a lot to do with our location as well. I mean, we’re directly on the Mississippi River. We’ve got two major rail lines coming right through our community and we’ve got interstate 55 that goes right beside us too. So, we’ve got the best of all the transportation modes. We’ve got hard working folks that are eager to get high paying jobs. And you know, I do contribute a lot of it or attribute a lot of it to the folks around here that they’ve met,” he says.
The hiring process is expected to begin in a couple of months. The plant will open at the end of this year or beginning of next year.
To hear the Show Me Today interview with Richard McGill, click below.
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