MARTINSBURG, W.Va. - People who would like to work at Procter & Gamble's future $500 million plant near Martinsburg can begin the application process as soon as next month, officials said Friday.
The plant, which the company officially broke ground on Friday at the Tabler Station Business Park, will accept job applications online beginning Oct. 1 at its online hiring portal, www.pgcareers.com. Construction on the plant is scheduled to start at the end of October. The building will be at least 1 million square feet.
A company official said the hiring process is lengthy and in-depth, and even with an established plant would take about six to eight weeks from the start of the application to getting someone working.
"With this large number we want to give ourselves the time to get back to the community and execute that testing and interview process," said Matt Pellegrini, a senior manager for Procter & Gamble.
The company plans to hire its first round of employees next summer.
The Cincinnati-based company, maker of popular brands such as Tide, Pampers and Charmin, plans to have 300 employees when it opens and ramp up to 700 by 2019, when the plant is fully operational. The company has not yet announced what specific brands the plant will manufacture.
"We're looking for a mix of things," Pellegrini said. "We're looking for people to fit in a team environment and grow to become strong leaders."
Specifically, the company is seeking workers with skills in mechanical, electrical and programming fields, manufacturing, production, packaging operations and equipment and machinery operations.
To help train people to work in their plant, Procter and Gamble gave Blue Ridge Community and Technical College $30,000. That money will be matched with $30,000 in state funds, said Sarah Tucker, interim chancellor of the West Virginia Council for Community and Technical College Education.
Tucker said there are existing programs that would prepare people for work at the plant.
"There are many programs," she said. "We have programs in mechatronics, in electrical and mechanical instrumentation, chemical process technology, advanced manufacturing, all of which would provide students with the skill sets Procter & Gamble is looking for right now."
State commerce Secretary Keith Burdette said the company will bring high-paying jobs with good benefits.
"I think the most significant [thing] is really not the building, [though] the building's great," Burdette said. "Procter & Gamble has a reputation for being a generational employer - people go to work for Procter & Gamble and they spend their life there."
The jobs will include a full benefit package that includes paid holidays, vacation, life and disability insurance, medical and dental insurance, 401K savings plan and profit sharing, according to a release from the company.
Burdette said Procter & Gamble is bringing the type of jobs that would attract people to West Virginia.
Martinsburg was chosen out of 70 sites in the eastern United States that the company considered for the project.
Liz Fikes, Proctor & Gamble's product supply director for global engineering, said the company's 458-acres of land is close to Interstate 81 and the railroad and is generally flat, all of which were factors in choosing the site.
"We think we can bring the utilities we need here and the workforce we need here," Fikes said. "We think it's going to be a great community, as well, for the site."
The site did need some work, though. Part of the deal for the company locating in West Virginia included the state paying $8.5 million for work including moving a cell tower, extending utilities and building an access road to the facility.
"I would argue that regardless of the company, we have some responsibility," Burdette said. "I don't expect them to build a road to their plant. I don't expect them build utilities for their plant. I think that is the state's responsibility and we stepped up and said we would make sure all that is taken care of."
Sen. Joe Manchin, who spoke at the ground-breaking ceremony along with Sen. Shelley Moore Capito and Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin, said the plant locating in West Virginia is proof that the state's work is paying off.
"It speaks volumes," Manchin said. "We've got our workers' comp, in order, we've got our tax code in order and we've got a workforce they believe in and a quality of life in West Virginia they want."
Tomblin called the company's initial investment one of the largest initial economic development projects in the state's history.
"We're grateful to the folks at P&G who come to West Virginia and saw great potential for the future of the company here with our well-trained workforce and strong business climate," Tomblin said in a statement. "We're honored to welcome them to our family and look forward to our continued partnership.
The Martinsburg plant will be the company's second new manufacturing facility in the United States in more than 40 years. It will employ the fifth largest Procter & Gamble workforce in the country. Procter & Gamble has 26 plants in the United States and 130 in 40 countries.
Burdette said manufacturing has been the one bright spot in West Virginia's struggling economy. Manufacturing has been growing, although slightly, for the first time in two decades, he said.
"It's very modest, but it is an upward trend," Burette said.
In the past year, the state has gained 300 to 400 manufacturing jobs, he said.
Reach Lori Kersey at lori.kersey@wvgazette.com, 304-348-1240 or follow @LoriKerseyWV on Twitter.