Gov. Scott: LignoTech Florida to Create 50 Jobs in Nassau County

December 12, 2016

 
FERNANDINA BEACH, Fla. – Today, Governor Scott announced that Borregaard ASA (BRG) and Rayonier Advanced Materials Inc. (RYAM) have chosen Fernandina Beach as the location of their new venture, LignoTech Florida (LTF).  The new manufacturing facility will be housed at RYAM’s Fernandina Beach site and will create 50 jobs in Nassau County. 
 
Governor Scott said, “I am proud to announce that Fernandina Beach has been selected as the best location for the new LignoTech facility, which will create 50 new jobs for families in Nassau County.  Borregaard ASA and Rayonier Advanced Materials Inc. are global companies that could have selected any other state to invest in, but they ultimately chose Florida thanks to our hard work to cut taxes and build a business-friendly environment.”
 
The new operation will provide environmentally friendly alternatives to oil-based products used in construction, agriculture and other industrial applications.  Construction for the project is expected to begin shortly with operations beginning approximately 18 months after the commencement of construction.
 
Paul Boynton, the Chairman, President and CEO of Rayonier Advanced Materials, said, “We’re excited to move forward with this new business to produce environmentally friendly alternatives to many fossil-fuel based products.  Our partnership with Borregaard will create over 50 high-paying jobs and contribute more than $28 million annually to Northeast Florida’s economy.  LignoTech Florida creates value for the stockholders of Borregaard and Rayonier Advanced Materials and is great for our community and Fernandina plant." 
 
Per A. Sørlie, President and CEO of Borregaard, said, “This project creates significant new growth opportunities for our lignin business.  Our partnership pairs Borregaard’s expertise in manufacturing, marketing and product development of lignin-based products with RYAM’s co-product generation and highly-competitive site location.  We appreciate the strong local support this project has already received. Officials at the city, county and state levels have been excellent partners.  We look forward to working with them in the future.”
 
Partners in the expansion include Enterprise Florida, Florida Department of Economic Opportunity and Nassau County Economic Development Board.
 
Mike Grissom, Executive Vice President of Enterprise Florida, Inc., said, “We’re excited to announce this expansion by Rayonier Advanced Materials.  This new partnership between Rayonier Advanced Materials and Borregaard ASA made this a highly competitive project.  These are two global industry leaders that could have chosen any location worldwide.  Because of the teamwork between our state and local partners, today we’re thanking these great companies for choosing Nassau County and Florida.”
 
Cissy Proctor, Executive Director of the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity, said, “It’s great news for Florida families that another international company has recognized the incredible opportunity to grow its business in Florida.  Florida’s strong manufacturing sector leads the nation in job gains, and the 50 new high-skill, high-wage jobs that LignoTech will bring to Nassau County will help us continue to set the bar for manufacturing growth.”
 
Laura DiBella, Executive Director of the Nassau County Economic Development Board, said, “I cannot express enough how incredible this expansion is to the City of Fernandina Beach, Nassau County and the Northeast Florida region as a whole.  It is such a uniquely positive project where its implementation will not only enhance operations at the current Rayonier Advanced Materials facility, it will also reduce the carbon footprint in numerous applications by replacing petroleum based products.  All this while creating high wage manufacturing jobs with a tremendous economic impact in what is currently a designated rural county in Florida.  This is economic development at its finest and I am so thrilled and proud to welcome LignoTech Florida to Nassau County!”
 

 
About Rayonier Advanced Materials
Rayonier Advanced Materials is the leading global supplier of high-purity, cellulose specialties natural polymers for the chemical industry.  Working closely with its customers, the Company engineers natural polymeric chemical chains to create dozens of customized high-purity performance fibers at its plants in Florida and Georgia. Rayonier Advanced Materials’ intellectual property and manufacturing processes have been developed over 85 years, resulting in unique properties and very high quality and consistency.  The Company’s facilities have the capacity to produce approximately 485,000 tons of cellulose specialties for use in a wide range of industrial and consumer products such as filters, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals and approximately 245,000 tons of commodity products.  Rayonier Advanced Materials is consistently ranked among the nation’s top 50 exporters and delivers products to 79 ports around the world, serving customers in 20 countries across five continents.  More information is available at www.rayonieram.com.
 
About Borregaard ASA
Borregaard operates the world’s most advanced biorefinery.  By using natural, sustainable raw materials, Borregaard produces advanced and environmentally friendly biochemicals, biomaterials and bioethanol that replace oil-based products.  The Borregaard Group has 1050 employees in 16 countries and had revenues in 2015 of approximately $500 million.  The lignin business constitutes close to 50% of the Group’s turnover with plants in 7 countries.

Enterprise Florida, Inc. (EFI) is a partnership between Florida’s businesses and government leaders and is the principal economic development organization for Florida.  EFI facilitates job growth through recruitment and retention, international trade and exporting, promotion of sporting events, and capital funding programs to assist small and minority businesses.  EFI launched “Florida – The Future is Here” to promote the state as the nation’s premier business destination.
 
About Nassau County Economic Development Board
The Nassau County Economic Development Board is an independent, public-private, 501c3 organization that serves as the unified voice and single point-of-contact representing Nassau County, Florida, as a desirable place to relocate a business or to grow and expand an existing business.  Its vision is to create a thriving and sustainable community - one with a diverse economy and high-wage, quality jobs for area residents, coupled with an unparalleled quality of life.  www.NassauFlorida.com