Rockline Industries of Sheboygan, Wisconsin, said Wednesday that it will spend more than $18 million this year to add production lines at its three Arkansas wet wipes plants.
The company, which has facilities in Springdale, Russellville and Booneville, said it will add 100 jobs to meet demand spurred by the coronavirus pandemic.
The new equipment includes high capacity wet wipe production lines at Rockline’s 370,000-SF facility in Springdale, its 240,000-SF facility in Russellville and its 1.2 million-SF facility in Booneville.
“As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic millions of consumers have been introduced to the convenience of personal care wipes,” Ron Kerscher, senior vice president of sales and marketing for Rockline, said. “This has led to a dramatic increase in consumer demand for these products.”
The family-owned company employs nearly 2,500 people worldwide, with manufacturing plants in Wisconsin, Arkansas, New Jersey,Tennessee and England.
In 2015, Rockline said it would invest $15 million to expand its Springdale plant to accommodate a new facial wipes line for Wal-Mart. At the time, the company employed more than 800 workers in Arkansas.
In November, another Arkansas wet wipes manufacturer, Nice-Pak of Orangeburg, New York, said it would hire more than 300 people at its plant in Jonesboro, doubling the manufacturing capacity for disinfecting wipes and adding to its ability to make other products.
Like Rockline, Nick-Pak said the pandemic created robust demand for its cleaning products.
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