UB Community Development LLC, a community development partner of United Bank, has closed a New Markets Tax Credit allocation of $8 million to support the modernization of HarbisonWalker International’s plant in Fairfield.
In January, HarbisonWalker announced a $25 million investment in converting the 200,000-square-foot Fairfield plant, which had been idled in 2019 due to a global lack of demand for carbon bake refractory products used in the aluminum market.
The revitalized Alabama operation will produce magnesia-carbon refractories specifically engineered to optimize efficiency and performance in steel-making applications like steel ladles and low-emission electric arc furnaces.
HarbisonWalker currently is expanding its U.S. manufacturing capabilities in response to the needs of steel customers in the South. The modernized Alabama facility will become one of HWI’s most efficient manufacturing facilities, creating 50 highly skilled jobs.
Headquartered in Pennsylvania, HarbisonWalker is the largest refractory products and services supplier in the U.S., with a network spanning North America, Europe and Asia. The company has 21 manufacturing facilities, 20 global sourcing centers and technology centers in the U.S. and China.
Based in Atmore, UB Community Development works with companies in the fields of healthcare, education, manufacturing, public works, affordable housing and others to improve communities through economic and community development.
