Feature Story
'Yankee Dryer' Arrives at Site of P&G's Future Utah Manufacturing Facility

Travelers on the road in and around Bear River City in Box Elder County on October 27 might have wondered, "What is that contraption?" as a strange, 220-foot-long tractor/trailer configuration crept by, with one big rig pulling and another pushing a huge piece of equipment on a long trailer.

After nearly a month over the road, traveling at a whopping 10 miles per hour, the giant "Yankee Dryer" was delivered to Procter & Gamble's $300 million Family Care plant, which is currently under construction in the county. The plant is expected to be operational in 2010 with a 300-employee workforce that will produce Bounty® paper towels and Charmin® toilet tissue.


P&G's massive Yankee Dryer being readied for transport from Houston to Utah

Construction Progress
The 20 feet tall by 25 feet wide dryer is the largest component of P&G's football field-size paper machine. The dryer was manufactured in Austria, shipped from Germany, and trucked from the Port of Houston to Bear River City, where it has since been set in place at the greenfield* plant, with the plant's exterior walls being finished around it. When complete, the one-million-square-foot facility will include the new paper machine, converting lines and warehouse space. (*Greenfield is a term used to describe a piece of previously undeveloped land, in a city or rural area.)

"Procter & Gamble is very excited about this important milestone at our Greenfield Box Elder location," says Matthew Donthnier, human resources / public relations leader for Procter & Gamble Utah. "The delivery of our largest single piece of equipment, used to dry our paper in the making process, marks another key milestone in the construction of our new Greenfield site, similar to our groundbreaking, erection of the exterior walls and the beginning of our local hiring. We continue to be very excited to be in Box Elder County and consistently reflect on the right decision to come to Utah."

Approximately 3,000 people have applied for P&G jobs. Donthnier says about 60 people, some local hires and some transferees, are working at the plant now. Additional hiring will take place as construction progresses. Operations will begin in stages, starting with the opening of distribution facility in the first quarter of 2010. P&G will be closing its Northwest regional distribution center in Seattle and consolidating those operations at the Box Elder plant.

Next, P&G will open the plant's converting operation, which will convert giant rolls of paper towels and toilet tissue into the finished Bounty® and Charmin® products. In the final step, projected to occur during the second half of 2010, P&G will bring its new finish paper machine online. The Utah plant will initially be the smallest of P&G's Household Care group; however, corporate officials have high hopes for it. If successful, the plant could grow over the next 10 to 15 years, edging toward a total capital investment of $540 million. As for payroll, jobs at the P&G plant will pay an average annual wage of $42,000, which is nearly twice Box Elder County's current median wage of $21,694. New state wages over 10 years are projected to be more than $400 million, while new state revenues are projected to be more than $98.5 million over the same period.

Brigham City Mayor Lou Ann Christensen was part of a Utah delegation that visited P&G's Cape Girardeau, Missouri plant shortly after the announcement that P&G would locate a plant in Utah. She was not only impressed by the size of the Yankee Dryer, but also by how well the company treats its employees and reinvests in the communities where its plants are located. "This will be a wonderful opportunity for northern Utah," she says. "Procter & Gamble is a fantastic company."

Why Utah?
In order to land the P&G plant in Utah, the state had to compete with existing P&G locations and a broad sweep of sites in Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Nevada, as the company evaluated capital expenditure outlays, ongoing operational costs and risks. Why Utah? Donthnier says the decision came down to three primary reasons:

1. The geographic location. From a supply chain management perspective, Utah is ideally located to serve the needs of customers west of the Rocky Mountains.


2. The incredible cooperation and support provided at the county and state level--from county officials to the Governor's Office of Economic Development, the Economic Development Corporation of Utah, and even former Governor Jon Huntsman. "We continue to receive incredible support," Donthnier adds. "Five mayors were on hand when the plant received delivery of its Yankee Dryer."


3. Utah's incredible workforce. "I consider Utah to be under employed," he says. What Donthnier means is that collectively, Utah's highly skilled, highly educated workforce is willing to pass over higher paying jobs out-of-state in order to stay in Utah where they want to raise their families. What's more, he says a generous number of Utah applicants scored higher than the national average on P&G's total assessment evaluations. "All of these factors match very well with Procter & Gamble's core values," he says.

P&G's heavy infrastructure requirement was also in Utah's favor. The 720-acre site chosen by P&G offered the water supply, wastewater treatment capacity, and electrical and natural gas supplies—at some of the most competitive rates in the nation—along with rail access.

While Utah was not the least expensive place for P&G to build, Donthnier say he is, nonetheless, very convinced that Utah is the right choice for P&G.