Georgia-Pacific has announced that it will make an investment of more than $145 million at its Darlington, South Carolina, Dixie plant that will expand plate and bowl making operations. This investment is based on customer and consumer demand for these well-known household products.

"This truly is an investment in our customers and consumers who use our products and value the Dixie brand," said David Duncan, executive vice president for Georgia-Pacific's Consumer Products Group. "The demand for our plates and bowls continues to grow as consumers value the Dixie brand's unique combination of convenience and performance."

The investment at Darlington will not create new jobs but will modernize and expand the plate and bowl capacity of the facility. The expansion will kick off in March with a targeted completion of first quarter 2022. During this time, the plate plant will continue to operate. Over time, the site will add new machinery, including a new plate printing press. A new, modern warehouse also will be part of the expansion.

Abraham Adkins, plant director for the Darlington Dixie operations, added, "This is an exciting investment for our employees and our community. It will transform the Darlington plant into a modern and competitive operation."

At the same time, the company also announced that it will shut down its Darlington cup plant by September and current distribution center sometime in 2021. Moving forward, cup customers will continue to be served from Georgia-Pacific Dixie plants in Lexington, Kentucky, and Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania. During the coming months, Georgia-Pacific will work with affected employees on transitions to roles in plate operations, other opportunities within GP or other Koch companies or opportunities outside of the company.

All of the future Darlington operations will be clustered on the Old Florence Road property, using the existing plate operation as the building block for the expansion.