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American Chemet plans expansion

EAST HELENA — American Chemet’s board of directors agreed that East Helena is the best place to expand the business given
the community’s support, state financing opportunities and the land available because of Asarco’s shutdown.

By CHRISTINA QUINN, IR Business Writer –

The announcement came Thursday after more than a year of discussion on where to expand to meet new demands in the
boat-bottom paint industry.
The new building will be located on a side of the current facility, according to Bill Shropshire, president of the company. The
company will most likely add a parking lot on land leased from Asarco, he said. The architectural plans are still the in development
stage.

The expansion will double the company’s capacity to produce the cuprous oxide used as a toxin-free, boat-bottom paint that keeps
barnacles off ships, thus saving fuel and helping vessels navigate smoothly.
American Chemet, which is headquartered in Chicago, is the world’s largest producer of this powdery compound.

American Chemet is also one of the few companies in the world that produces boat-bottom paint that meets the International
Marine Organization’s standards set to go into effect on Jan. 1, 2003.
The new standards are part of a treaty phasing out the use of toxic organo-tin compounds as boat-bottom paint. A complete ban
will be in effect in 2008.

This regulation will add to the demand of Chemet’s compound and is the primary reason the company is expanding, according to
Shropshire.
Chemet has already added 12 employees to its 94 workers, all paid well above the minimum wage, company officials said. The
company officials do not know how many more employees they will add to meet the increased demand.
The company will, however, pump $5.9 million into the expansion effort. Most likely a local contractor will do the work, Shropshire
said.

Locating the expansion in East Helena rather than East Coast seaports, where the biggest cuprous oxide buyers are, is a way to give
back to the community, he said.
East Helena and Helena have always provided both moral and financial support to the company, Shrophire said.

The whole reason the plant is here in the first place is because Helena banker Al Hibbard was willing to lend money to the founders
in 1947, a year after the company started in Chicago.

Back then, Asarco was a prime supplier of materials.
Today, the state is the one providing the financial backing. The Montana Board of Investment’s has offered a value-added loan to
help finance the expansion effort, according to Eric Schindler, Chemet’s vice president and chief financial officer.

Value-added loans are intended to help companies expand or retain jobs.
“This is the best program we can find,” Schindler said, explaining that company officials looked throughout the country for an
expansion site.
Ever since Asarco closed, American Chemet has been East Helena’s largest employer, exceeding annual revenues of $50 million.

Besides producing cuprous oxides, the company produces zinc oxide used in rubber tires, agricultural copper fungicides and copper
metal powders.
Reporter Christina Quinn can be reached at 447-4075.

http://helenair.com/headline/1A2.html

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