Company invests $8.2M in Fountain Inn plant

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Frauenthal Gnotec is investing in a manufacturing and distribution facility in Laurens County. 

According to the Laurens County Develop Corp., the company will spend $8.2 million and create 82 new jobs to expand production to an existing facility at 400 S. Nelson Dr., in the Laurens County part of Fountain Inn.

The company is part of Frauenthal Holding AG, a Vienna, Austria, investment and management company with its century-old roots in an Austrian porcelain factory, according to the company’s website.

Gnotec is headquartered in Gothenburg, Sweden, and first established operations in the United States in late 2018, officially opening an automated production plant in Orangeburg in October 2019. Their products are found in cars, trucks, and safety systems. 

“We would like to welcome Gnotec to the Laurens County business community,” Brown Patterson, chairman of the Laurens County Council, said in a news release. “We pride ourselves on being a great place to do business, and their investment and commitment to our community is further evidence of that.  We look forward to a long and prosperous relationship.”

Gnotec has been an international manufacturer of metal components to the automotive and commercial vehicle industry for more than 70 years, according to the news release. Gnotec employs around 1,300 workers at operations in China, Czechia, Germany, Slovakia, Sweden and the United States. 

“We are really pleased with our new facility located in Lauren County,” Jörgen Oldenstedt, president and CEO of Frauenthal Gnotec, said in the release. “The new facility significantly increases our production capacity and improves the overall flow of our production processes. The expansion is fueled by the continued growth we have had in recent years and will create a wide variety of interesting jobs. The new facility will enable us to successfully meet the rapidly growing demand for our products and services and to better serve our customers and long-term business partners located around the world.”

Dillon Swayngim of Colliers South Carolina represented Frauenthal Gnotec in leasing the 68,500-square-foot industrial space.