CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin’s trade mission trip to Brazil begins Monday. The main focus of the visit will be meetings with the company planning an ethane cracker plant in Wood County.
“The leadership of both the U.S. project as well as the leadership of the company will all be in one place during this period of time,” state Commerce Secretary Keith Burdette told MetroNews. “We’re going to have an opportunity to get a solid feel for where we are; what the remaining steps are that need to be completed.”
The trade mission comes almost a year to the day that Odebrecht announced its plans to explore the development of a petrochemical complex in the Ohio River community of Washington. The project is called Ascent, Appalachian Shale Cracker Enterprise.
Since the Nov. 14, 2013 announcement, Odebrecht has made significant progress including closing on the purchase of the property for the complex and signing an agreement with an ethane supplier.
“We are getting awfully close to the end of this thing. We can certainly see the light at the end of the tunnel, but we know there are still things that have to be accomplished,” Burdette said.
Gov. Tomblin noted the progress in announcing the trade mission trip.
“As Odebrecht continues to make significant progress, I remain optimistic this opportunity will be a game changer for our economy – bringing with it thousands of construction jobs, hundreds of permanent job opportunities and countless downstream developments that will usher in a manufacturing renaissance in the Mountain State,” Tomblin said.
Burdette, who also serves as the executive director of the state Development Office, said the partnership has Odebrecht has already opened up some other possibilities with Brazilian companies.
“We’ve just recently been meeting with a potential recruitment to West Virginia. We may get an opportunity to visit with them while we’re there,” Burdette said. He added the company has already made a few trips to West Virginia.
The trade mission will continue through Friday. It will be Gov. Tomblin’s third international mission in three years.