West Sanitation relocating headquarters to B.R.

Gov. Bobby Jindal and West Sanitation Services Inc. CEO Ben Elder announced today the dual relocation of the company’s corporate headquarters from California to Baton Rouge and its manufacturing operations from Illinois to Baton Rouge. The relocation represents a $1.14 million capital investment and will create 44 new direct and indirect jobs, they say. A manufacturer and distributor of odor control products for commercial and institutional restrooms, West Sanitation will consolidate operations in a Beaumont Drive industrial building near Airline Highway. The company’s jobs will average more than $38,000 per year, plus benefits. “With our headquarters based in California and our manufacturing operations in Illinois, the current taxes and regulations in these states restricted our opportunities for growth and profitability,” says Elder. “The governor’s staff and the state and local economic development agencies we worked with showed us our move is appreciated, welcomed and supported. We were courted seriously by other states, but in the end we decided that Louisiana offered the best opportunity.” Manufacturing operations will begin in Baton Rouge by February, with the headquarters’ transition from California to Louisiana completed by this summer. Also today, Jindal announced Houston Plating & Coatings will invest more than $9 million to build an 80,000-square-foot facility in Scott. The plant will be operated by Louisiana Plating & Coatings, a wholly owned division of HP&C, and will create 120 new direct jobs over the next five years. Oilfield service machinery will be a primary focus of the Scott facility.