Foamtec Waco-area production facility bringing 150 jobs, nearing completion

Foamtec first relocated to Central Texas from California about five years ago, opening a distribution center at 720 Venture Drive in Waco. Business growth and a need to improve logistics prompted Foamtec to seek yet another, larger, building in the area to accommodate both distribution and manufacturing, Foamtec Vice President Laura Dotson said.

The company chose to build from the ground up, buying 11 acres at 6575 North Interstate 35 in Lacy Lakeview, next to the Road Ranger truck stop. A ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new 95,000-square-foot plant is scheduled for 4 p.m. Thursday.

“We were quietly looking for quite some time at larger facilities that came on the market, but none seemed to be the right fit,” said Josh Carter, an associate broker with Coldwell Banker Commercial Jim Stewart Realtors. “So, last fall Foamtec made the decision to build an entirely new state-of-the-art facility from the ground up”

Carter said Foamtec made the deal for the 11-acre site in January.

Foamtec will move production from Thailand to Waco, and expects equipment vital to those functions to arrive in August for use in September.

Plant manager Chris Lanning said Foamtec believes the Waco facility will eliminate delays and long lead times involved in shipping product made in Thailand to distribution points in the United States.

“We’re restoring some jobs in America,” Lanning said.

Waco’s Mitchell Construction is building the new plant.

Human resources director Forrest Smith said Foamtec will run 10 product lines in Waco. Robotics will play a significant role, but the company is hiring senior leadership, technical staff, assembly line operators, material handlers and quality control technicians.

“We will run three shifts six days a week,” Dotson said.

Smith said Foamtec welcomes a relationship with a trade school to train its employees. He said students taking courses at Texas State Technical College would become ideal candidates, though some would be over-qualified.

Foamtec said it will pay competitive wages, but did not get specific. The company employs 40 people at the distribution center it owns on Venture Drive and anticipates needing at least 150 at the combined manufacturing and distribution complex on Interstate 35 in Lacy Lakeview. Lanning, the plant manager, said some current employees will make the move.

Dotson said Foamtec may put its Venture Drive building on the market, acknowledging the shortage locally of warehouse and distribution space.

The Foamtec International website says the company makes sponges, mops, swabs, wipes and facemasks used in cleanrooms for contamination control. Customers include the semiconductor industry. Its medical division, with headquarters in Bangkok, Thailand, creates products of “medical grade polyurethane foam,” used in drug delivery, wound care, infection control, diagnostics and critical cleaning.