A new Rogersville industry with ties to an existing Athens company recently announced it would soon be up and running.

A press release from Custom Synthetic Fibers LLC indicated the facility should be online by mid-summer. The plant will hire up to 50 workers for its plastic extrusion operation and operate out of an 80,000-square-foot facility in the Rogersville Business Park.

Custom Synthetic Fibers is owned by a group of individual investors including the majority owners of Custom Polymers Inc., a plastics recycler and reprocessor based in Charlotte, North Carolina, and Custom Polymers PET LLC, a post-consumer PET bottle recycler, located in Athens.

Custom Synthetic Fibers LLC will produce 40 million pounds annually of recycled polyester staple fiber for sale into a variety of applications including automotive, home furnishing, industrial, apparel and consumer goods. The facility is sized to allow for future fiber line expansion of an additional eighty million pounds.

“Our plant will produce high quality recycled polyester fiber by incorporating recycled polyester raw materials in an environmentally friendly and cost effective manner,” said Joseph Ku, chief executive officer. “Our state-of-the-art technology will enable our customers to benefit from fiber in various denier sizes to meet their stringent quality and consistency requirements.”

Forrest Wright, president of the Shoals Economic Development Authority, previously told The News Courier that Rogersville is no stranger to high-tech companies. For example, North Alabama Composite Co. manufactures materials for the aerospace industry, while Madison-based KT Engineering — another aerospace engineering firm — operates a satellite facility there.

“The Rogersville area has welcomed us with open arms,” Ku said. “We are very pleased to be a part of the Rogersville Business Park community.”