By Brice Wallace
A Canadian company that specializes in composite utility poles will set up a manufacturing facility and office in St. George to better serve the West Coast market, bringing up to 358 jobs over the next seven years.
RS Technologies Inc., based in Calgary, Alberta, made the announcement after being approved for a tax credit of up to $777,670 by the Governor’s Office of Economic Development (GOED) board.
A private company, RS designs, engineers and manufactures composite utility poles that are considered to be safer, more reliable and longer-lasting then wood, steel and concrete options. The fire-resistant poles, resilient in storms and high winds, are used for transmission, distribution and communications. The company has manufactured the poles in Canada since 2003 — its current facility is near Detroit in Ontario, Canada — and has more than 400 customers in more than 25 countries.
“RS is excited about establishing its operations in Utah to supply more high-performance poles to the utility market,” Howard Elliott, president and CEO, said in a prepared statement. “The advantages of using an engineered product that excels in increasingly complex and challenging circumstances are becoming more apparent across North America. RS is pleased to be in a position to respond to growing market demand, and to do so from Utah.”
Elliott told the board that the company is “really looking forward to starting up in St. George and cranking out some more poles.”
The $35 million project is expected to result in new wages of more than $61.6 million over seven years and new state tax revenue of nearly $3.9 million during that time.
The new positions are expected to pay an average of $44,000 per year and include plant management, supervisory and hourly staff workers.
RS currently can produce 10,000 poles per year, with about half of that supplying Southern California Edison, which is expected to double to quadruple itys purchase and installation of composite utility poles in coming years in order to counter the effect of wildfires.
Thomas Wadsworth, GOED associate managing director, said the fact that the company is based in Canada represents “a really exciting opportunity for some foreign direct investment in the state of Utah.”
“From staff’s perspective, we think this is a perfect project for St. George in that they have indicated to us that advanced manufacturing is an industry that they’d like to pursue, so anytime we can help support bringing those types of jobs to an area that’s good for them, we see that as a win-win, all across the board,” Wadsworth said.
RS will use a building once occupied by Viracon Inc., which left the facility in early 2018, affecting nearly 200 employees.
“We’re just thrilled for the opportunity to have RS Technologies come to our community,” said St. George Mayor Jon Pike. “This is a fantastic opportunity to put back to work a good building, a very good building in our industrial park, to bring in new manufacturing jobs. … We’re very pleased about this possibility.”
“We are really looking forward to having RS Technologies come into Washington County and into the St. George area,” added Washington County Commissioner Dean Cox. “It’s going to be a great economic stabilization factor for us as we diversity of our economy, and this type of manufacturing is very consistent with what we’re trying to do.”
Carine Clark, chair of the GOED board, called RS “a terrific company.”
“This is not only a great company for St. George, this is a great company for Utah,” she said. “This is going to be one of the jewels that we’ll be so proud that we were able to work together and to develop this partnership.”
In a prepared statement, Theresa Foxley, president and CEO of the Economic Development Corporation of Utah, noted that Utah is a national leader in the composites industry.
“We have the talent and we have innovative manufacturers in aerospace, outdoor products and infrastructure,” she said. “The expansion of RS in St. George is evidence that the composites industry represents a statewide strength.”
