A Montrose composite producer is building a $14 million manufacturing plant in Douglas County that is expected to bring about 240 jobs to the region.
Polystrand Inc.’s 120,000-square-foot office and manufacturing building will be the first constructed in the 100-acre HighField Business Park, being developed by Denver-based Central Development southeast of Centennial Airport near E-470 and South Peoria Street.
Better access to major highways is among the main reasons the company chose the Douglas County location, said Mike Gordon, president of Poly strand parent company Gordon Holdings Inc., which also is relocating to the area.
“We had looked at other states in terms of trying to get a really good position in terms of being logistically central to all the markets Polystrand is in,” Gordon said. “From Denver, you can get to everyplace very easily in a couple of days. We really like that location down by Centennial Airport. Many of our customers are from big companies that have their own private aircraft.”
The majority of Polystrand’s customers are in the trucking industry, which has seen a surge in activity over the past year. Polystrand provides the material for liners in refrigerated trucks and trailers.
The company’s reinforced-thermoplastic composites are also used in the automotive, air-cargo and wind-energy industries.
Gordon Holdings also controls Gordon Composites, which employs about 100 people in Montrose. Founded in the 1950s, Gordon Composites makes composites for sporting goods such as archery bows, snowboards and skis.
Sandy Head, executive director of the Montrose Economic Development Corp., said Polystrand’s expansion to metro Denver is logical. The Denver plant will ship 60 million pounds of product a year, four times as much as the Montrose plant currently does, she said.
“If you had to truck 60 million pounds of product off the interstate and into Montrose, that would increase your cost,” she said. “It’s just a matter of logistics. It’s an expansion, not a relocation.”
Margaret Jackson: 303-954-1473 or mjackson@denverpost.com
