ORANGEBURG, SC (WACH) – A new manufacturing plant in Orangeburg is expected to bring 300 jobs to South Carolina.

Innovative Composites International held a ceremony Thursday to celebrate the opening of its new plant in Orangeburg.

The company claims to be known for being a leader in composite design and manufacturing.

With the new 126,000 square-foot manufacturing plant, homes can be built in a single day by a crew of just five workers using no special tools or heavy equipment, but are so strong they can withstand an earthquake or hurricane, according to officials with the company.

The plant will have the capacity to produce up to 5,000 durable and affordable home each year.

During the event, a crew of five workers began the assembly a 559-square foot home that is expected to be completed by dark Thursday night.

The workers did not need any special tools, training or heavy equipment.

Gov. Nikki Haley joined other dignitaries to participate in the ribbon cutting ceremony.

The company is investing $9.3 million in the new plant.

Courtesy of WACH-TV on April 19. 

“This is the fastest way to assemble an affordable and durable home,” said Terry Ball, ICI’s Chief Executive Officer. “A small crew of people can assemble a home without any special tools or training, and they don’t need any heavy equipment.”

“Some competing technologies can withstand high winds, but not an earthquake,” notes Mr. Ball. “Our technology does both and it does it at less than half the price of a typical conventionally built home (about $120/sq. foot). There’s nothing like it anywhere in the world, which is why we believe that this home building system will soon be used around the world.”

Located on a 34-acre site about 60 miles from Charleston, the 126,000 square-foot manufacturing plant has the capacity to produce up to 5,000 homes a year.

“South Carolina is a pro-business state, and we celebrate ICI’s decision to invest here and create 300 new jobs,” says South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley.  “This is another win for one of our rural areas.”

The unmatched durability of ICI’s new housing system is achieved by constructing the homes with easy-to-assemble, fibre-reinforced  Structure Lite panels coated with ICI’s RmorSkin  a breakthrough protective material engineered  to resist high impacts.   The panels, constructed entirely with recyclable materials, are also designed to be moisture resistant, mold and mildew resistant, insect resistant, impact resistant and UV resistant.

The most likely buyers will be governments seeking affordable and durable housing. They can choose from three basic models:  The Cabin, a  512-square-foot, 2-bedroom modular home; The Bungalow, an 880-square-foot structure with three bedrooms, a living room, kitchen, 4-piece bath and storage area; and The Lodge, a 1500-square-foot home with three large bedrooms, two 4-piece baths, kitchen, living room, dining room and large front porch. “There is virtually unlimited demand for affordable housing and we intend to be the industry leader in that market,” says Mr. Ball.

The company also produces shelters that are designed to facilitate quick delivery and assembly, a performance advantage that makes them ideal in a wide variety of temporary or permanent applications, including emergency relief sites, mining camps and remote villages. The shelters, available in two configurations (8′ x 16′ or 8′ x 20′ configurations), are made of the same durable base materials as the houses. They are shipped flat, in kits, which increases the shipping density and reduces the cost of delivery. Assembly can be completed in hours by a small crew of workers using no special tools or heavy equipment. “This solution is as easy to ship and assemble as a tent, but it offers the safety and shelter that is associated with a permanent building,” explains Mr. Ball. “We expect huge demand because there is really nothing like it any in the world.”

Courtesy of MidlandsBiz on April 19.

Innovative Composites International on Thursday opened its flagship $9.3 million, 126,000-square-foot manufacturing plant in Orangeburg.

The company will build the components for hurricane- and earthquake-resistant houses that can be used in places such as the Caribbean rim and South America where housing is expensive and natural disasters plentiful; places such as an Olympic village where affordable temporary housing is needed for athletes and support staff; and even in the United States, offering buyers an affordable option.

“We are starting business, we are here, we are going to hire some people but the pipeline is deep,” ICI Chief Executive Officer Terry Ball said during the ceremony.

“We are working in many locations throughout the world. No state that I have ever worked with is as strong as South Carolina,” he said.

The Canadian company, which is doing business locally as EcoScapes Composites LLC, is manufacturing composite housing that can be quickly assembled for disaster relief and other needs.

Officials estimate they will be able to produce approximately 5 million square feet of housing per year. The company will ship homes primarily to the Caribbean.

The company has said it will invest $9.3 million and create 300 new jobs over the next five years. It currently employs 50.

With some emotion, Ball said the company came to Orangeburg because of the incentives, cooperation and quality of the people.

“We wanted a great deal on the building, we wanted to understand the people, we wanted to take a look at all the resources available. We did some shopping around but Orangeburg is absolutely on top of the list,” he said.

Orangeburg County Development Commission Executive Director Gregg Robinson said ICI was focused as it sought a manufacturing site.

“They knew exactly what they wanted,” Robinson said. “When they saw the labor here, when they saw the location here, when they had the introductions to the port executives, I knew that we had a winning project.”

S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley promised Ball and ICI that Orangeburg County will embrace the company.

“This company will be a success because we as a community are now invested,” she said. “I am now your number one employee. My job is to make sure you are successful.”

ICI’s decision to locate in Orangeburg County is proof of the quality of the community, Haley said.

“We build things in South Carolina,” Haley said. “Now looking at Innovative Composites and looking at EcoScapes, you continue to prove that.”

Orangeburg Mayor Paul Miller said he’s impressed with the company’s product.

“I can see how this can really, really be a great benefit to say it is made right here in Orangeburg County,” Miller said. “It just puts another gold star in our county’s hat.”

The county provided the company the traditional fee-in-lieu-of-taxes incentives as well as a special source revenue credit, according to the S.C. Department of Commerce. The incentive package is worth about $17 million.

As part of the day’s festivities, Haley presented Ball with a South Carolina flag. The Claflin University Choir sang the U.S. and Canadian national anthems.

Last year, Canada was the top destination for products exported from South Carolina, according to the S.C. Department of Commerce.

Foreign-affiliated companies employ 102,600 South Carolinians, making about 6.9 percent of the state’s private industry employment.

ICI is a publicly traded business that is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange. It is the third Canadian company to call Orangeburg County home. The others are Quality Model Plastics and Monteferro, which has Canadian and Italian roots.

Courtesy of The Orangeburg Time and Democrat on April 20.

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.

Innovative Composites International, Inc. will manufacture affordable housing systems at the 126,000-square-foot facility, primarily for shipment to overseas locations.

“Out of Orangeburg we’ll be shipping low-cost efficient housing systems that will go into some mining locations, and for disaster relief,” said CEO Terry Ball. “The reason we’re in this area is the strong port and the ability to ship efficiently.”

“We’ve been down to the port, talked to the (state ports) authority, and laid out a plan,” he said. “They were very organized and very helpful.”

The ICI facility is expected to produce about 5 million square feet of affordable housing yearly once it is running at full capacity. Currently, about 25 people work at the facility, producing components for about five modular homes weekly,

The company’s EcoScape modular housing uses foam-core structural panels reinforced with a thermoplastic fibre-reinforced skin. The company says the largely recycled material uses no wood, and is impervious to water and impact resistant.

According to ICI, 16 EcoScape shelters that would be 8-by-16-feet when assembled can be shipped in a single 40-foot container, and assembled on-site with only a screwdriver.

Ball said components for a nearly 1,000-square-foot house would also fit in one shipping container.

The company last year announced it has signed agreements worth $228 million to supply modular housing to Haiti, Ghana and Brazil. Commercial shipments of the modular homes produced in South Carolina are expected to begin in May.

“All of the initial work that we do, the first few thousand houses, will come out of Orangeburg,” Ball said.

ICI has a 5-year lease for the former DANA building in the Orangeburg Industrial Park.

The company will invest $9.3 million in South Carolina, according to the state Department of Commerce,

“We are not only adding a solid manufacturing firm to our state with this announcement, we are also strengthening our ties with our foreign trading partners,” Commerce Secretary Bobby Hitt said in September when the deal was first announced.

A plant-opening ceremony with Gov. Nikki Haley is scheduled for Thursday.

Ball said the company expects to be hiring for manufacturing, production and office jobs in August or September, and the facility should eventually employ about 320 people. He said applicants should contact the Orangeburg County Economic Development Commission.

The company does not sell home components to individuals, but Ball said a North American “cold weather” model is being developed and might be sold through distributors.

In the United States, ICI is a so-called penny stock company that trades on the over the counter “pink sheet” exchange under the stock symbol ICIZF. The company’s stock closed at just under 63 cents a share Monday.

Courtesy of the Charleston Post and Courier on April 17.

To access the conference call by telephone, dial 647-427-7450 or 1-888-231-8191.  Please connect approximately 15 minutes prior to the beginning of the call to ensure participation.  A question and answer session for analysts and institutional investors will follow management’s presentation.

A taped replay of the conference call will also be available to listeners until 12:00 a.m. Tuesday, June 5, 2012.  To access the rebroadcast, please dial 416-849-0833 or 1-855-859-2056 and enter passcode 79139753, followed by the number sign.

About Innovative Composites International Inc.

Headquartered in Toronto, Canada,  Innovative Composite International Inc. (TSXV: IC) (OTCQX: ICIZF) is a high-tech engineering and manufacturing company whose goal is to successfully commercialize a proprietary line of composite products targeted at markets that include prefabricated modular housing,  shelters, containers, and transportation.

Led by a management team with extensive commercialization experience, ICI has adopted a two-tier business model:  It designs and manufactures products and partners with established companies in its target markets to utilize their sales channels for faster product roll-out.

The superior characteristics of its products provide ICI with opportunities to establish and grow significant, sustainable, and diversified sources of revenue in its target markets.

To find out more about ICI please visit our website at: www.innovativecompositesinc.com.

Contact Information:

Sam Greiss                                            or                              Philip Dale

Chief Financial Officer                                                             TMX Equicom

(416) 646 0754                                                                        (416) 815 0700 ext 253

sgreiss@innovativecompositesinc.com                                   pdale@equicomgroup.com

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.