Specialty Chemical moves into sugar plant near Moses Lake

Rock Island company to be operational in fall 2008

MOSES LAKE - A Rock Island chemical company got closer to making the move into Moses Lake this week.

On Monday, Specialty Chemical Products purchased part of the Central Terminals industrial park complex, formerly the Pacific Northwest Sugar Company, with the Pamp Maiers family as majority owners.

"We have perfected a technology within Specialty Chemical Products to take certain kinds of fly ash we own at our facility in Rock Island plus diatomaceous earth located in Quincy," Specialty Chemical Vice President Jim Trunzo explained.

Through a chemical process, the company converts the materials into high-purity silica powders used in rubber, plastic, printer inks and paper coatings, amongst other products.

The company purchased four buildings, including two main process buildings, the office and the warehouse, at the Moses Lake site.

"Sort of the prominent stuff you see from the highway, and enough land around to conduct our business," Trunzo said.

The initial thought was to build the facility in Rock Island, but Trunzo became aware of the Moses Lake site through the Grant County Economic Development Council.

"When we looked at the value for the money we were paying, the buildings and their almost exact applicability to what we wanted to do, plus the low-cost power available, when we added it all up, it just made this a better economic picture than we could ever hope to achieve at Rock Island," Trunzo said.

One significant issue was energy, he said. The plant would typically be a natural gas plant.

"When we looked at the cost of natural gas versus the cost of power available here, electricity clearly was better in raw cost terms," Trunzo said.

In addition, not using natural gas changes the environmental profile of the plant, simplifying the air permitting process, Trunzo said.

Trunzo said everything is being moved from Rock Island, which will serve as a recovery operation for silica. While Trunzo is a Wenatchee resident, he plans to be on the Moses Lake site most days, in addition to a full-time plant manager taking care of the day-to-day activities.

Specialty Chemical first made the announcement about coming to Moses Lake in April 2006. Discussion first began in 2004.

"The project really was highly contingent at that time. It was dependent upon whether or not the existing equipment could be removed from the plant," Trunzo said. "Without that, the buildings would be too expensive for us to do anything with, so basically we waited until that was accomplished."

That work was completed in late 2006.

"Then we had some other administrative delays relating to getting the title in sufficient enough shape so the buildings could be transferred," Trunzo said.

Trunzo said the capital investment ends up ranging from $25 million to $30 million.

Central Terminals Manager Bob Fancher said the company had to go through platting with the City of Moses Lake to create an industrial park.

"The plat now is comprised of 173 acres," Fancher said.

Fancher and Maiers envision the company being part of an industrial park.

"The idea after the sugar plant closed down, Pamp kind of made a commitment that through an industrial park setting we'd try to replenish all the jobs that left here," Fancher said. "This is phase one of it. It'll happen, I think. There was actually only 60 full-time jobs here. They had seasonal jobs, but there'll be a lot more here when we're done."

The existing equipment inside the Specialty Chemical property is being demolished. The company is doing detailed design and engineering in order to procure equipment and get the required permits from the state before beginning construction, expected to happen in the spring of 2008, Trunzo said.

He expects to hire 35 hourly workers and 15 administrative employees at the outset, including himself.

"We're currently actively looking for a maintenance supervisor and a plant engineer, and those jobs are listed with Worksource here in town," he said. "If we find the right candidates through Worksource, we'll hire them more or less immediately."

The company intends to start production in August or September of 2008. Trunzo plans to hire employees in the late spring and bring them in for training and safety orientation.

The company will start out producing about 11,000 tons, but Trunzo said the business plan allows for the company to double production, depending upon how fast its markets develop.

"The ultimate production out of here will be somewhat in excess of 20,000 tons," he said.

In dealings with the council and City of Moses Lake, the company was pleased with the reception it received.

"All the way down the line, it has been a pleasant experience," Trunzo said.