Adhesives, beauty care and home care products manufacturer Henkel is committing $23 million to expand production of Dial brand hand soap and sanitizer products at its production facilities in Geneva, NY and West Hazelton, PA, the company announced in a recent release.
“We are thrilled to announce a supply expansion of essential products in North America,” Doug Parkinson, vice president of operations at Henkel’s plant in Geneva, said in a statement. “It’s not only a win-win for our business, it will support our local job and economic growth. Investing in Dial will provide consumers and businesses with much needed home and personal hygiene products.”

$17.3 million will be used to acquire new equipment and technology for new foaming hand soap and sanitizer lines at its Geneva plant, which will increase the facility’s production capacity by 45% to 55%, according to the company. Prior to Henkel’s acquisition of the plant in 2018, the Geneva site primarily manufactured professional hair care products. As part of the new project, the site will be rebranded from Zotos Professional to Henkel to reflect the plant’s expansion into antibacterial soap and hand sanitizer production.

Henkel is injecting $2.5 million into its West Hazelton plant and investing $3 million in new equipment for both facilities.

“With this new Henkel investment and the addition of the powerhouse Dial brand, our modern operations support the addition of 180 highly-skilled and talented employees that we are attracting from our local community to help further strengthen the Finger Lakes economy,” Parkinson said.

Powder & Bulk Solids reported in June 2019 that Henkel completed a $19 million project at the West Hazelton site to add a new production line for Dial body wash and Dial liquid hand soap. 180 new jobs were created as a result of that investment.