Surry Business

Bodet & Horst, a German company with facilities in Europe and North Carolina, may open a new plant in Mount Airy.

The Surry County Board of Commissioners on Feb. 18 may approve a tax-incentives package to help Bodet & Horst establish a local facility. Similar action by the Mount Airy Board of Commissioners could follow on Feb. 21. Each board is offering $17,700 to $26,800 — the final amount depends on the company’s actual investment — according to Robin Rhyne, president of the Surry County Economic Development Partnership.

The plant initially will employ 10 people, but Rhyne said she hopes it will grow, much as Bodet & Horst’s 23,000-square-foot High Point facility started three years ago with five employees and now has 65.

The proposed Mount Airy plant will make knitted fire barriers for mattresses. Bodet & Horst claims to be “the world’s leading producer of knitted mattress cover materials” for the international mattress industry and also manufactures spacer fabrics, climate belts, service zippers and other mattress accessories.

One of its High Point managers lives in Surry County and knows the availability of experienced textile workers here, a major reason why Bodet & Horst focused on Mount Airy as a site for the operation that will complement work done in High Point. The manufacturer expects to invest $1.2 million to $1.8 million in machinery and equipment here.

Rhyne said company will pay more than $30,000 in property taxes annually, which will be rebated to the company over its first five years as an incentive grant.

No site for the Mount Airy facility has been announced.