Governor Nikki Haley, the South Carolina Department of Commerce, Bamberg County, the City of Denmark and the Southern Carolina Alliance announced Thursday that Tampa Florida based- Masonite International Corporation, a maker of residential and commercial doors, plans to invest $14 million in expanding its operations in Bamberg County. The company expects it will have added a total of 159 to 200 new jobs by the time the new technology is fully installed in five years.

“This is a great day in South Carolina and Bamberg County,” Bamberg native and South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley told a crowd of local and state officials jammed into a room on the site of the former Government Training Institute in Denmark. “Bamberg County has so much to offer”, Haley told Masonite International Corporation CEO Fred Lynch, in pledging her “personal commitment” to the company. Haley said she told Masonite officials if they came to Denmark, “we will absolutely “wrap our arms around you. We will train people to do these jobs and it will be an asset to say that these doors came out of Bamberg County,” Haley said.

“This is a great day for the City of Denmark, County of Bamberg state of South Carolina, for Masonite and all of its employees, the best door making facility in the country will be right here in the City of Denmark and Bamberg County,” Masonite International Corporation, President and CEO Fred Lynch said announcing the company’s $14 million expansion in Denmark. The new facility is expected to generate 200 jobs in the next five years. “We will have the very best quality doors built by the best quality employees in the Southeast,” Lynch said.

Lynch said the decision to invest in new technology with the economy in the condition it is in now was “hard to make.” However he said the decision to locate the best door making plant in the City of Denmark was not hard to make and the reason was the employees in Denmark.

“The Masonite name is synonymous with quality and value,” said Southern Carolina Alliance Chairman Johnny Williamson. “The company will be an asset to our industrial community, and we look forward to their continued success and growth in our region of South Carolina.”

“Bamberg County welcomes Masonite, and we are proud to have this internationally recognized company manufacturing in our county,” said Bamberg County Council Chairman Clint Carter. “Every job created here affects a family, and that’s why job creation is the key to improving the quality of life in Bamberg County.”

The company is in the planning and engineering phase of the production line, and the new system is expected to be operational by early 2013.

“We are pleased that Masonite chose Denmark as the location to grow their operations in the Southeast,” said Mayor Gerald Wright of Denmark. “We believe that our workforce and our location played pivotal roles in their decision, and we will continue to work closely with the Masonite team to make them feel at home in Denmark.”

“Bamberg County and Masonite will make an outstanding team,” said SCA President Danny Black. “We are grateful to Masonite for their investment in our region, and we are grateful to our partners at the local, regional and state levels who made this project a reality, including Governor Haley and the team at the S.C. Department of Commerce, Bamberg County Council, the City of Denmark and the member counties of SCA who share the benefits of this success.”

The county will receive a $1.5 million grant approved by the Coordinating Council for Economic Development, to be issued to the county for building purchase and upkeep. The county will own the building and lease it to the company. ReadySC will also provide training support to the company.