SPARKS, Ga. (AP) - A German chemical company plans to invest $70 million and hire 30 new employees at a south Georgia plant to make chemicals to coat seeds.
BASF SE said it will expand its facility near Sparks, south of Tifton. The Cook County plant, which opened in 1984, currently has 145 employees. The company employs more than 1,200 people across its eight Georgia locations.
The expansion includes more lab space, a climate-controlled warehouse and a formulation unit. It will make seed coatings for corn that include an insecticide, a bacteria that protects against roundworms, and another bacteria that increases nutrient absorption. The plant will also make a seed treatment that protects soybeans against a deadly fungus and roundworms.
BASF plans to begin hiring late this year, with the expansion becoming fully operational in 2021.