West Virginia’s plastic industry, directly and indirectly, accounts for more than 22,630 jobs, $1.19 billion in employee compensation, $2.2 billion in economic activity and pays more than $178 million in state taxes, representatives from the Polymer Alliance Zone, Marshall University and Governor Joe Manchin announced at a news conference today in Charleston.

“The plastic industry in West Virginia is both robust and diverse and is an economic engine for the state of West Virginia,” said West Virginia Governor Joe Manchin.  “This is a high-tech, high-wage industry that sells its product all over the globe.  And, with the opening of PWP Recycling in Wood County in June and Kureha Corporation partnering with DuPont’s Belle site in Kanawha County to open a new plant, it is a growing industry that will provide jobs and taxes into the future.”

Karen Facemyer, President of the Polymer Alliance Zone, an economic development organization marketing the plastic industry in West Virginia, said, “While there is a heavy concentration of plastics firms in the Polymer Alliance Zone counties of Wood, Jackson and Mason, the industry in West Virginia is comprised of more than 75 companies across 33 of our 55 counties.  And, plastic industry wages, averaging $54,000, are more than one and a half times the state average wage of $37,000.  The impact of this industry is tremendous and it is felt all across the state.”

Marshall University’s Center for Business & Economic Research conducted the study.  The polymer industry is a goods producing industry, creating both final products for businesses and households as well as intermediate products for other industries. The firms can be divided into four types of manufacturing:

• Plastics material and resins
• Chemical additives such as antioxidants, polyols, fire retardants and organofunctional silicones.
• Final and intermediate plastic and polymer products produced from a variety of materials including urethane, polyurethane, fiberglass, phenolic foam, sponge rubber, polyethylene, polyvinyl chloride, vinyl, cultured marble, latex and polypropylene.
• Services, such as compounding, mold making and plastics recycling.

Christine Risch, Director of Research for Marshall University’s Center for Business & Economic Research and the lead author of the polymer industry study, said, “Without question, the plastics industry has a major impact on West Virginia’s economy, comprising $2.2 billion (or 3.6 percent) of total economic activity.”

Risch said the industry cluster in the Polymer Alliance Zone counties directly and indirectly employs more than 7,300 people and accounts for 13 percent of all employment in that region.  The average plastic industry salary in that area is twice the state average at $74,000 per year.

Plastics companies operating in the state include:  Allied Logistics, Bayer Material Sciences, Chemtura Corporation, Commercial Plastics Recycling, DuPont, ICL Supresta, K.S. of WV, Polymer Alliance Services, PWP Industries, PWP Recycling Center, Sabic Innovative Plastics, SDR Plastics, Star Plastics and Viking Pools, among others.

For additional information on the study, the plastics industry or the Polymer Alliance Zone, contact Karen Facemyer at (304) 428-1622.