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Officials Present: Tammy Caudell, Regional Project Manager GDEcD;
Doug Hitchon, ASI Exective VP & COO; Toccoa Mayor Gail Fry; Peter Rolla,
ASI President, State Senator John Wilkinson; Tim Martin, SCDA, Barry
Roberts, ASI Director of Operations; Stephens County Commissioner Chair
Dean Scarborough; Julie Paysen Chamber of Commerce President and State
Representative Dan Gasaway. |
Local company officials broke ground on December 3 on a new
facility at ASI Plastics, formly known as GEM Plastics in the Meadowbrook
Industrial Park.
The addition is planned to be a 110,000 square foot facility.
The expansion represents a $10 million
investment and will create about 25 new jobs.
Company President Peter Rolla said the company has done well
in Georgia and credits the strong relationship with the local and state
government for that. Mr. Rolla said that
Stephens County Development Authority Executive Director Tim Martin, played a
very instrumental role in the discussions that lead to this expansion in
Stephens County.
“Toilet partitions, accessories, and lockers have been very,
very good to me, for us, Toccoa, Stephens County, and Georgia,” said Rolla.
“GEM has been here for about 50 years and throughout those years, we have
experienced steady growth.”
Stephens County Development Authority Executive Director Tim
Martin said the Rolla family has always led a strong business that has allowed
this growth to happen. “There is verse in Proverbs, Chapter 24,” said Martin. “Any
enterprise is built by wise planning, becomes strong through common sense, and
profits wonderfully by keeping abreast of the facts. That is certainly what has
happened in this company in this place.”
Toccoa Mayor Gail Fry said this is a great day for the
community as leaders continue to try to make Stephens County the best place in
Georgia to do business. “That is what we are doing by investing in our community,
investing in the businesses that are already here, and when a business that is
already here decides it wants to expand and create jobs, that tells us we are
doing something right,” said Fry.
Meanwhile, Stephens County Commission Chairman Dean
Scarborough said the employees deserve a lot of the credit for this expansion
in Stephens County. “Your work ethic and what you mean to this company lets them
know they can expand,” said Scarborough. “You folks are the bedrock of this
company in this community. Thank you for helping us helping Mr. Rolla expand
his company.”
Company Executive Vice President and COO Doug Hitchon said
the company is excited about the opportunity to continue the company’s strong
growth in Toccoa and Stephens County. “Thank you for being a part of that future and creating the
environment and for having the relationships with us,” said Hitchon. “None of
us do this on our own. This is an ‘us’ thing. It will benefit us.”
Hitchon also thanked the team of employees at the company
for their efforts and letting him be a part of their team.
The expansion will be complete at the end of 2015 and the
company will move its Highway 123 operations into the expansion. Then, the company will donate the existing
Highway 123 building to Stephens County government for its use.
Meanwhile, the company also announced it will be changing
its name to ASI to align all of its brands under the same banner. That means local companies will now become
known as ASI Southeast, ASI Global Partitions, ASI Plastics, and ASI Storage
Solutions.
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