West Virginia Executive Spring/Summer 2020 | Page 62

Tabler Station Fresh Step
Cat Litter Plant
By Tiffany Lawrence
Recognizing West Virginia’s Eastern
Panhandle as the ideal place to grow its
business, The Clorox Company is in the
process of obtaining approvals to build a
cat litter facility in the Tabler Station Business
Park outside of Martinsburg, WV. The
Martinsburg site will join two Kingsford
Charcoal plants in Mineral and Tucker
counties, making West Virginia the only
state in the U.S. with three Clorox facilities.
The state-of-the-art facility will produce
Fresh Step and Scoop Away cat
litter products, estimated to bring $190
million in economic investment to the
region and create approximately 100 new
local jobs with competitive pay above the
county average. According to Clorox’s
Vice President of Product Supply Michael
Holly, there were multiple reasons Berkeley
County was chosen for the company’s
latest project. The area’s existing infrastructure,
proximity to Interstate 81, skilled
local workforce and rail access for material
transportation were all factors that made
it the perfect fit.
“We know West Virginia is a great
place to do business. We have a wonderful
track record here, and we’re looking
to build upon it,” says Holly. “We believe
in doing the right thing, which means
becoming ingrained in the communities
where we live and work, supporting local
initiatives that align with our values and
practicing sustainability.”
Under the guidance of Margaret Butts,
the facility’s business support manager,
Clorox is eager to continue its long tradition
of building community partnerships.
In 2019, the company awarded
more than $6 million in product donations
across the nation and $4.6 million
in corporate community cash grants to
those localities.
The company also maintains ambitious
goals to reduce its environmental impact.
In recent years, The Clorox Company
has reduced greenhouse gas emissions by
33 percent, and more than 99 percent of
its paper-based packaging is made from
recycled or certified sustainable virgin
fiber. Additionally, Clorox has 16 zerowaste-to-landfill
facilities, with the Tabler
Station facility slated to join these ranks.
Photo by Burns & McDonnell.
Company officials worked closely with
local and state leadership throughout the
approval process and hosted two open
houses to share plans with the community.
The Berkeley County Council approved
the sketch plan in March, and the project
is now in the process of meeting preliminary
plan requirements. Site prep aration
is projected to start this summer with
hiring to begin in 2021. According to
Plant Manager James Holly, the facility
is on track to be operational in 2022.
“We don’t do this often, so it says a
lot when we move into an area,” he says.
“We’re really invested in the Eastern
Panhandle and look forward to a long
partnership.” •
Thank you to all our Morgantown business
residents at the Suncrest Corporate Center.
For leasing information, call [phone].
430 Drummond Street, Morgantown, WV 26505
60
WEST VIRGINIA EXECUTIVE