German plastics group Röchling (Mannheim; www.roechling.com) has held groundbreaking ceremonies for a USD 4.9m expansion project at subsidiary Röchling Glastic Composites in South Euclid, near Cleveland, Ohio. The group said the additional capacity at the competence centre for the Röchling industrial composites business in North America will strengthen its position in the region and add 19 jobs by the end of 2022. This will be the composites producer’s fourth expansion of its operation since the original warehouse was built in 1951. Franz Lübbers, CEO of Röchling Industrial, said business volume in Cleveland has grown constantly in recent years.

The primary business of Röchling Glastic Composites, which arose out of Glastic Corp founded in 1946 and was acquired by Germany’s Röchling in 2007, is production of semi-finished sheet, rod and profile stock for fabricated components in electrical equipment and infrastructure, as well as thermal insulation for plastics, rubber and oil and gas processing. With the expansion, the group will increase its local workforce to 125 people by the end of 2020. The project begun two years ago has received support from the city of South Euclid, Cuyahoga county and the state of Ohio.