FAIRMONT, W.Va. — European aluminum manufacturer Kibar Americas is preparing to restart operations at the former Novellis facility on Speedway Avenue.
Fairmont City manager Travis Blosser said the company has never made promises to hire a certain number of workers or start production within a certain time frame. The company has made a commitment to restart operations and they are working to do that.
“They are on track and are going through that process,” Blosser said on WAJR’s “Talk of the Town.” “They have retained and hire some folks that have worked there before and they are working to get the facility back online which was one of their chief goals.”
The company has about 15 workers on staff and many of those date back to the time Novellis operated the facility. In addition to foil, the company is exploring market opportunities that have developed due to current tariff policies.
“They are hoping in the next several weeks they’ll run the first product lines from the facility,” Blosser said. “Then they’ll continue the expansion and hiring throughout the rest of this year and into 2027.”
The Kibar Americas expansion is happening while Prime 6 is growing in the former Westinghouse/Phillips manufacturing facility. The success both companies are enjoying is thanks to support from local, state, and federal officials.
“We plan to continue that,” Blosser said. “We want to make sure we’re supporting these companies so they can be successful in the long-run so they can continue to hire Fairmont and West Virginia residents.
Kibar Americas, Prime 6, and the I-79 Technology Park employ thousands and continue to grow. All of the companies are large electricity consumers that are talking to FirstEnergy to make sure they are planning to expand the grid.
“It’s a tug and pull,” Blosser said. “But, I think discussions we’ve had with Mon Power and FirstEnergy they understand the primary focus and they are trying to build out the network to support those types of activities.”
Blosser said the Kibar Americas management team has been very good to work with and he looks forward to a new future for the facility.
“They continue to keep their word and I think that’s meaningful especially in a state where sometimes we get promises and they don’t fully deliver- Kibar has made it very clear the way they operate.”