By Catherine Kavanaugh
STAFF REPORTER
Published: June 5, 2014 2:02 pm ET
Updated: June 5, 2014 2:05 pm ET
Image By: Genova Products Inc.
Genova Products Inc. has told officials in Paducah, Ky., that it plans to mold PVC pipe fittings at a new plant there.
Genova Products Inc., which makes plumbing and building materials mostly from vinyl, plans to lease a 100,000-square-foot factory in Paducah, Ky., that once housed Infiniti Plastic Technologies Inc.
Based in Davison, Mich., Genova will hire 125 workers over 10 years to make PVC pipe fittings, Paducah city manager Jeff Pederson said in a telephone interview.
“This has promise to far exceed Infiniti’s payroll. Infiniti never did reach its job creation projections and commitments,” Pederson said.
A potential lease agreement and memorandum of understanding is up for a final vote June 10 by the Paducah City Commission. The city owns the building along with the county.
Genova also is seeking economic incentives from the Commonwealth of Kentucky. County and state officials need to give their approvals, too.
“There’s an application to the state of Kentucky — or there will be later this month — and that’s part of it,” Pederson said.
A spokeswoman for Genova Products could not be immediately reached for comment.
Infiniti Plastics produced packaging for media, such as CDs and DVDs, at the factory until late last summer. All the injection molding equipment was relocated after Infiniti Media Inc. was acquired by Amaray in August. Amaray moved the manufacturing assets to its plant in Elizabethtown, Ky.
Genova Products was looking for a central location and Paducah fit the bill.
“The building had a lot to do with it,” Pederson said. “It was specifically built for a plastic molding company and there are aspects of the design that lends itself to that. It’s designed and set up for a similar use.”
Genova currently has five factories in Michigan, Minnesota, Indiana, Nevada and Texas and two warehouses in Indiana and Texas. The company’s website also shows a location in Lithuania.
Genova has been making vinyl pipe and fittings for professional and do-it-yourself plumbers since 1962. The company expanded into vinyl gutters and fencing and now has a product line that includes vinyl downspouts, decks and rails; drinking water and sanitary systems for boats and RVs made of PVC, chlorinated PVC, PEX and ABS; and vinyl wire management systems.
The products are sold at Ace, Blish-Mize, True Value, and Do It Best hardware stores among other retailers.
The PVC pipe fittings that are on track to be made in Paducah would be sold at Lowe’s, according to a report by WKMS public radio. | 
