BST to open side curtain air bags manufacturing facility in Cordova

12 Feb '07

3 min read

Gov. Mike Easley announced that BST Safety Textiles, a division of Narricot Industries, will open a facility in Cordova to manufacture side curtain air bags for automobiles. The new plant will create 200 jobs and invest $35 million during the next three years.

The announcement was made possible in part by grants from the One North Carolina Fund and the Job Development Investment Grant (JDIG) program.

"Narricot's decision to open a facility in North Carolina brings more good-paying jobs to the people of Richmond County," Easley said. "This shows our investments in education, worker training and infrastructure provide a business climate that encourages companies to build successful partnerships with our state."

Narricot Industries is one of the world's leading companies for the development and manufacturing of fabrics for automotive airbags. As federal airbag standards change and roll-over requirements are expected to be put in place, the market for side airbags is projected to continue to grow, providing expansion opportunities for the BST division in North America.

BST will move into space available in the International Textiles Group (ITG) plant in Cordova. While the companies are independent of each other, both are owned by the investor group W.L. Ross & Co. The majority of the 200 newly created jobs will be for various types of technicians, weavers and material handlers. Wages will vary by job function, but will average about $29,000, not including benefits. The Richmond County average annual wage is $24,800 without benefits.

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