Door maker expanding operations in rural SC

DENMARK, S.C. (AP) — Masonite International plans to expand its door-making operations in South Carolina, investing $14 million and adding 159 jobs in rural Bamberg County.

Gov. Nikki Haley joined company and local officials, as well as company employees, on Thursday to announce Masonite’s plans. Operations are expected to start in 2013.

Masonite employs 50 people in Denmark, making interior panel doors in a facility that operated there more than five decades as Lifetime Doors. Masonite bought Lifetime Doors last October.

The company is expanding into the former NIBCO plant nearby. The maker of PVC plumbing fittings was one of Bamberg County’s largest employers before it closed in 2007, leaving 130 people out of work.

The state gave the county $1.5 million to buy the building. Masonite will lease it from the county.