Green Fox Plastics LLC, a 2-year-old plastic lumber extruder currently leasing a facility in Ohio, plans to invest $7.2 million to build its own plant.
The family-owned firm started as a captive operation, providing polymer lumber to sister companies Little Cottage Co., which makes outdoor playhouses and similar products, and Wildridge, an outdoor-furniture maker. All the companies are owned by Dan Schlabach and are within 5 miles of each other in Holmes County, between Akron and Columbus. Pvc Extruder Machine
Little Cottage has two plants, one in Berlin and one about a mile east; Green Fox will build its plant on the latter site, relocating from Fryburg. Another Schlabach company, Red Fox Real Estate LLC of Berlin, Ohio, will direct construction of the new facility, according to Little Cottage accounting controller Jerry Shoup.
Last year, Green Fox also began selling to other companies and has outgrown the leased building, Shoup said in a recent telephone interview. The company plans to break ground on a 64,000-square-foot facility this fall or next spring.
Little Cottage has earmarked $5.1 million for construction and $1.8 million for new production equipment. Shoup would not say how many extruders Green Fox currently has or how many it plans to add.
To encourage development, Green Fox will receive a 10-year, 50 percent tax exemption from Holmes County and a $40,000 grant from the state. The company has agreed to double its staff to 24 over three years, Shoup said.
Little Cottage opened in 1999, making pre-assembled and do-it-yourself kits for outdoor playhouses, chicken coops, garden sheds, barns, gazebos and other structures.
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