A manufacturer of plastic tubes used in the consumer- and personal-care-products industry will open a $24 million manufacturing facility in Danville, Gov. Timothy M. Kaine announced yesterday. Arista Tubes, a United Kingdom-based company, will open its manufacturing operation in the former Dan River building at River Pointe and create 145 jobs. Arista Tubes, a sister company to city employer Essel Propack America LLC, is scheduled to begin operations by summer. It will supply laminated tubes to toothpaste and cosmetics companies, said Essel Propack, a packaging company. The building is 156,000 square feet, and Arista will take over about 120,000 square feet while Dan River's graphics operation will retain the rest for now, a city economic development official said. Arista will eventually take over the entire building. Dan River Inc. was once Danville's largest employer. The city has lost thousands of textile jobs in recent years, and the region has been staggered by the loss of numerous tobacco and manufacturing jobs to foreign markets. "It is gratifying to announce 145 new jobs in Danville at a time when the community is facing the prospect of job losses due to Dan River's downsizing," Kaine said. Essel Propack, an India-based manufacturer of laminated and plastic tubes, acquired Arista Tubes in August 2004. Essel Propack, which has been in Virginia since 2002, encouraged Arista Tubes to come to Danville, Kaine said. Founded in the 1920s, Arista Tubes makes extruded plastic tubes and employs about 150 people at its plant in Stevenage, United Kingdom. Kaine approved a $300,000 grant from the Governor's Opportunity Fund to assist Danville with the project. The Virginia Tobacco Indemnification and Community Revitalization Commission approved $300,000 in Tobacco Region Opportunity Funds for the project. For more information, visit www.artista-tubes.com. Return to Archives

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