Work starts on Kevlar plant

Government officials, economic development leaders and high-ranking DuPont executives donned white construction hard hats and pushed their shovels ceremoniously into a mound of dirt.

But in the distance, dump trucks and other construction vehicles did the real work, preparing the ground for the Delaware-based synthetic textile maker's $500 million Cooper River Plant expansion.

The new facility, which is being built next to the company's existing plastic-making plant in Bushy Park near Goose Creek, will produce Kevlar, a thread that is woven into fabric that's five times stronger than steel.

On Thursday, the group of officials celebrated the project's progress, which is expected to create 100 permanent jobs when it opens in 2010. The company will begin hiring in October.

"They are high-quality, good-paying jobs," Berkeley County Supervisor Dan Davis said at the ceremony. "We can't say enough for how important that is."

DuPont executives canvassed the world for a place to build the plant, including Europe, Russia and parts of Asia. They also thought about expanding their current Kevlar plants in Richmond, Va., Ireland and Japan.

The company settled on expanding its Berkeley County site because of its proximity to the Port of Charleston, government incentives and the nearby work force.

Also, Chief Executive Officer Chad Holliday Jr. said keeping the plant within the United States provides an extra level of security and quality assurance.

"This is a plant that everyone wanted, so everyone rolled out the red carpets," he said. "South Carolina should feel good that out of every other site in the world, we're here."

Willie Martin, DuPont's vice president of North American operations, said that while it might have been cheaper to build the plant abroad, keeping it in the country was the ethical thing to do. Martin was Bushy Park's plant manager until the mid-1990s.

Gov. Mark Sanford, who spoke at the ceremony, said the project is significant because of the type of work employees will do.

"Not a whole lot of workers can say that someone would have died without (their product), and yet that is the reality of Kevlar," he said.

Kevlar is best known as the thread that's stuffed inside bulletproof vests. The strong threads bond together and disperse the bullet's impact across the entire garment.

But the material is widely used in other industries. Manufacturing workers wear protective gloves made from Kevlar. And in China, workers wrap aging bridges in the material to help keep them structurally sound.

Holliday said Kevlar is good for the environment because it's lightweight yet strong, allowing gas-powered vehicles and airplanes to reduce their fuel consumption.

Reach Katy Stech at 937-5549 or kstech@postandcourier.com.