South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley will be in Orangeburg Thursday to celebrate the opening of a new industry.

EcoScapes Composites LLC, which is owned by Toronto-based Innovative Composites International, will hold a ribbon-cutting event from 2:45 p.m. to 5 p.m. at its facility at 174 Millennium Drive. The company located in the former DANA building.

EcoScapes says it will invest $9.3 million to manufacture composite housing that can be quickly assembled for disaster relief and other needs. EcoScapes has promised 300 new jobs over the next five years.

Officials estimate they will be able to produce approximately 5 million square feet of housing per year in the 126,000-square-foot facility.

Initial production began March 26.

ICI announced earlier this week it reached an agreement to supply EcoScapes modular homes for a housing project in Antigua. Phase I, consisting of 30 homes, will begin in May.

“This agreement is the culmination of building deep working relationships over the past year, which has the potential to expand to over 150 homes,” said Terry Ball, president and CEO of ICI. “The homes built to supply Phase I will be manufactured from our recently commissioned flagship facility in South Carolina.

“We are proud to have been chosen to supply our quality modular homes to help address the need for affordable housing in the Antiguan market.”

Commercial shipments of the modular homes are expected to take place in early May followed by a steady ramp-up of plant capacity over the coming months.

EcoScapes says its houses are earthquake and hurricane resistant, and are for “portable as well as permanent” use.

The Orangeburg manufacturing plant is the second in the United States for ICI. The other is in Michigan.

Courtesy of The Orangeburg Times and Democrat on April 19.