9/29/2011
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin announced today that Precision Converting Solutions (PCS) LLC will open a specialty converting factory in the Charleston area. The new company is a subsidiary of Siam Precision Components, a Thailand-based manufacturer of precision laminated components.
When fully operational in two years, the project is expected to create 25 high-technology jobs and represent an investment of approximately $6 million.
Siam Precision Components first learned about opportunities in West Virginia when they visited the state’s exhibit at the Bio International Convention in Washington, D.C., in June 2011.
“West Virginia is proud that Precision Converting Solutions will open in our state,” said Gov. Tomblin. “International investment is an important part of West Virginia’s growing economy. West Virginia has a skilled workforce, strategic market location and positive business climate that attract great partners and quality jobs to our state.”
“In selecting West Virginia for this project, we carefully considered many states,” said Jay Holcomb, CEO of Siam. “We weighed the pros and cons of each. After much thought and consideration, we found West Virginia to be the best choice.”
“Once again West Virginia has proven to be an excellent place to do business, and I couldn’t be more thrilled to help officials with Siam Precision Components make this incredible investment in West Virginia, and in creating jobs in our high-tech sector,” Senator Jay Rockefeller said. “I met Mr. Cheromcka this past summer at the BIO 2011 Convention in Washington, and I invited him to visit my office to see how we could work together. His company is exactly the kind of high-tech presence we need in West Virginia to help our build our science, technology, engineering and mathematics economy. I’m excited to welcome Tim and his team at Siam to West Virginia.”
PCS will employ proprietary tooling and converting technology to support Siam’s current customers worldwide.
The West Virginia firm will be Siam’s first manufacturing and research and development facility in North America. It will facilitate Siam’s entry into the rapidly expanding market for microfluidic components for medical, diagnostic and alternative fuel industries.
Plans call for PCS to begin operations in January 2012 in an interim employee training and business development center while construction of the new 20,000-square-foot clean room manufacturing and R&D center is completed in Kanawha County. A clean room is a manufacturing environment where airborne particle concentrations and other potential contaminate are tightly controlled in order to protect sensitive equipment.
The new jobs will be engineer and technician positions specializing in precision machining, stamping, and converting of high precision components. PCS will begin the hiring process in the fourth quarter of 2011 for key management and technical personnel to send to Asia for training. Applications are being accepted through WorkForce West Virginia.
“From our discussions at the Bio show and our follow up visits to the state, we learned about West Virginia’s business advantages,” said Tim Cheromcka, Siam’s president of global operations. “We are confident that this will be a great opportunity for both West Virginia and Precision Converting Solutions.”
Cheromcka cited key site selection factors as:
Availability of skilled manufacturing work force
Geographical proximity to key suppliers and customers
Low cost of doing business
Strength of West Virginia’s economy, evidenced by the state surplus, corporate tax reductions and solid infrastructure
Business-friendly environment
The website for the parent company is
www.siamprecision.com.
Contact Information
Catherine Zacchi
304-957-9340
catherine.m.zacchi@wv.gov