Fairfield Processing, the manufacturer known for its Poly-Fil brand of synthetic stuffing material, will bring more than 100 jobs to St. Louis’ North Riverfront neighborhood. Wednesday’s announcement came after the manufacturer moved its facility from Granite City to St. Louis last summer.
The relocation brought 50 full-time jobs with it, but company officials said they plan to add another 100 jobs in the next five years.
Fairfield’s President Jordan Young said the city of St. Louis is well-suited for the company due to its freighting and manufacturing needs. It’s also an added bonus, Young said, for its employees, many of whom are from the St. Louis area.
“Our people were actually from St. Louis ... commuting across the river to work in our company in Illinois,” Young said. “When we determined that we needed to keep those people moving across the river and starting the company and building a new plant here in the city of St. Louis made the greatest sense of all.”
The 300,000-square-foot facility at 6432 Prescott Ave. houses the company’s manufacturing and distribution spaces in one building. The Poly-Fil brand has its hand in the do-it-yourself market. It produces more than 400 products besides its fiberfill, including beads for stuffing into bean bag chairs, foams for cushions, pet beds, pillows and stuffed animals.
St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson tried out the product Wednesday, stuffing a massive teddy bear full of the fiberfill. Krewson said she welcomes the expansion of the manufacturer to the city. A half century ago, she said manufacturing jobs were widespread in the U.S. and now, the industry is seeing a resurgence throughout the nation and the city.
“Manufacturing jobs are good jobs, and we want all of them that we can get right here in St. Louis,” Krewson said. “We have a great port here. We have rail. We have barge. We have truck transportation, and so we are ideally situated for a manufacturing expansion.”
A joint effort between the St. Louis Economic Development Partnership, 2nd Ward Alderwoman Dionne Flowers, the St. Louis Development Corporation, SLATE and the Missouri Partnership worked to get the company to move to St. Louis
The manufacturer currently has openings for some seasonal positions. Young said many of those workers become full-time employees.
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