CEDAR CITY, Utah — There may not be much to see now, but there's definitely a vision for the jobs of the future at the Iron Springs Inland Port in Cedar City, and it's made of plastic.
"Most of your garbage cans that you have picked up at the street side are made out in the rotational molding world. Some of the big kayaks, big water tanks, most of the big water tanks you see built are during this type of process," explained Joe Brough, owner of Hive Plastics.
Brough is all about plastics. The Utah native ran a plastic business in Box Elder County for decades before retiring to Hurricane a few years ago.
But retirement was not for him.
Now, he's putting the finishing touches on a new plastics venture at the inland port, with the $12 million, 23,300-square-foot facility expected to create at least 60 jobs in the community.
"This community has that vibe of, you know, you meet them once or twice and they're friends already," he explained.
The jobs are coming at the right time after the area lost 200 jobs when the Utah Iron Mine shut down in April. But Iron County Economic Development Director David Johnson said when the mine previously shut down in the 80s, the area diversified into more industry, especially plastics.
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"One of the things about rural communities who have had generations grow up, live and work here is now often the younger generations have to move away," said Johnson. "So having opportunities like this and many others that are coming to Iron County allows people to stay and work here and allows those who have moved away to find better opportunity to come back home."
The inland port was the first beyond the Wasatch Front, and some believe the advantage for Hive and others at the Cedar City port is the proximity to rail lines and the rest of the west.
"Within an 8-hour trucking day, a one-day's trucking, it puts us in proximity to the western U.S.'s major metropolitan and commercial areas. So that's a big advantage for southern Utah," said Danny Stewart, Associate Vice President for Project Area Development with the port authority.
Brough says that proximity and the community are why Hive chose Cedar City ahead of A location in Mesquite, Nevada, adding that he’s in it for the long haul in Iron County with plans to double the size of his facility in the next four years.
"This is a long-term project for us," he shared. "It's a nice community, hardworking people."
