The ethanol and solvents provider has completed construction of its new European manufacturing headquarters and plans to recruit new staff over the next five years.
Today (28 July), ethanol, alcohol and solvents producer Greenfield Global announced that it is entering the commissioning phase of its new base in Portlaoise.
The 3,800 sq m Co Laois facility will be the company’s EU manufacturing headquarters and will be its first site outside of the US and Canada. Once completed, the company plans to create 75 new jobs at the facility over the next five years, supported by IDA Ireland.
Located in IDA’s Business and Technology Park, the site will be one of the first nearly zero-energy buildings constructed under the new European standards. Such buildings have high energy performance levels and mostly draw on renewable resources.
Renewable energy is one part of Greenfield’s business, which also focuses on speciality and chemical ingredients, beverages and distilled spirits, and agribusiness.
Greenfield Global is headquartered in Toronto, Canada, with 12 facilities operating across North America. According to the company’s global president and CEO, Howard Field, it has been supplying Pharmco-branded “mission-critical alcohols, solvents and bioprocessing materials” to life sciences companies for more than two decades.
Field said that construction at the Portlaoise plant is “essentially completed” and the company is now preparing to start its validation programme at the site.
Managing director of Greenfield Global Ireland, Ken Finegan, added: “We are encouraged to move this project to the next phase and will soon be able to service our existing and new customers with Pharmco-branded products, including pharmaceutical companies, from Europe and beyond.
“Greenfield’s manufacturing headquarters in Portlaoise will become a critical part of the life sciences ecosystem in Europe and beyond, especially considering the improvements we can make to globally damaged supply chains caused by Covid-19.”
Minister for Financial Services, Credit Unions and Insurance Seán Fleming, TD, attended today’s announcement in Portlaoise. He said: “This investment is a very positive development for the midlands region and is further evidence of the benefits of locating in the regions outside Dublin where there is access to talent, lower operating costs and higher staff retention rates.”
Find out more about jobs at Greenfield Global here.
