Jobs, new life proposed for Allenport mill site

By Eric Seiverling
eseiverling@yourmvi.com

A world-renowned business has its eyes on the Mon Valley for its newest location that could bring at least a hundred jobs to the area.
Last week, Canadian company Eco-Flex invited local officials to Allenport for a tour of its proposed manufacturing and distribution site at the vacant Mon Valley Industrial Lot, the site of the former Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel plant.
The 400-acre site reached from 1 Wheeling Pittsburgh Drive has been owned by the Mon River Industrial Group since 2012. Wheeling-Pittsburgh closed the rolling mill in March 2008, putting 3,200 people out of a job.
Based in Alberta, Canada, Eco-Flex is a manufacturer of recycled rubber materials that uses primarily recycled tires to manufacture products such as highway sound barrier walls, mats and other business and industrial applications.
According to Eco-Flex’s website, the company has recycled more than 50 million car tires since 1992.
“It’s a 100% green process with zero emissions,” said a company spokesperson, “and we’ll be using Pennsylvania tires. It’s really endless what we can do with it.”
According to the spokesperson, the company plans to be operational in the 5-acre parcel in three to six months pending an evaluation from PennDOT of its highway sound barrier walls.
The spokesperson said the new facility will hire 100 employees.
“These will be family sustaining jobs,” the spokesperson said. “Not just $12 or $15 an hour jobs. We’re looking at a $5 or $6 million investment.”
According to the spokesperson, the site will serve as the company’s manufacturing and distribution facility for the mid-Atlantic region, which includes Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, Maryland and Michigan.
The spokesperson said Eco-Flex CEO Alan Champagne is excited for the opportunity in southwestern Pennsylvania and is looking forward to “getting things going.”
Eco-Flex is headquartered in a 35,000-square-foot facility just north of Edmonton, Alberta, and it also operates a 30,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in California.
Along with Canada and the U.S., Eco-Flex says it has regional dealers and sales agents in Mexico, Russia, India, and Southern Africa.
Officials invited to the Allenport tour included Sen. Camera Bartolotta, R-Carroll Township, and Rep. Bud Cook, R-West Pike Run Township.
“What’s really great about it is we need to be selling the Valley,” Cook said. “This is a classic example of individuals reaching out and finding people like this. We need to stop complaining about what we don’t have and focus on what we do have.”
Cook said he’s impressed with Eco-Flex’s manufacturing process.
“What they do is amazing,” he said. “Ecologically it’s really, really sound.”
Cook said Eco-Flex showed interest in the site nearly a year ago, but wanted to keep the process under wraps.
“This has been in the works for a while,” he said. “These deals take time. There’s a lot of moving parts.
“We’re working together for this, and that’s the key for what makes this work. It’s time we start moving in the Valley.”
In a post on Facebook, Bartolotta stated, “This project will bring hundreds of jobs to Allenport, repurpose an abandoned facility, revivify our local economy while improving our environment!”
Officials in Allenport are excited for the opportunities the site will bring to the region.
Councilman and former Mayor Bob Horan said the building is 50-yards-wide and 200-yards-long and housed three large Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel cranes.
“It’s a humongous building,” said Horan, a resident of Allenport for 75 years. “They can bring trucks right into the building.
“This is what we need. This is something that’s going to help us get a little bit of the tax base back.”