An Ohio-based company is planning to open a manufacturing facility in rural Jeff Davis Parish to produce steel black rail frames for solar panels.

Ice Industries has chosen the former Zagis cotton spinning facility located at the Lacassine Industrial Park for its $6 million investment project. The project is expected to create more than 200 direct and indirect jobs.

The Jeff Davis Parish Police Jury on Wednesday approved a letter of support for the company’s plan to seek a $380,000 Economic Development Assistance  Program (EDAP) forgivable loan for site development and infrastructure improvements, pending approval by the Louisiana Economic Development and Corporation board.

“This is another business out there to keep moving the parish forward,” Police Jury President Steve Eastman said, voicing his support of the project.

The Police Jury fully supports the project and is grateful for Ice Industries’ decision to invest in the parish, he said.

According to the Louisiana Economic Development, the EDAP program assists in the financing and funding for sponsored and unsponsored projects for which financial assistance is requested to promote economic development in the state.

Jeff Davis Parish Economic Development Commissioner and CEO Creed Romero said the company must create at least 10 new jobs and spend a capital expense of $1.43 million by Dec. 31, 2025.

“They’re investing a lot and generating 70 jobs,” Romero said.

In a presentation to the Jeff Davis Parish School Board earlier this month, Romero said the company would create 70 new direct full-time jobs with 142 indirect jobs to include construction workers and vendors, for a total of 212 potential new jobs. The average starting salary is projected at $53,000.

Romero said part of the incentive to get the company to locate in Jeff Davis Parish was to create a local workforce by hiring as many local residents as possible.

The company is currently renovating the 150,000-square-foot facility in Lacassine with plans to begin moving and installing its equipment by mid-November. It expects to begin production of the solar panel components in early 2025.

The company will use an existing rail spur at the industrial park to transport its products and materials in and out of the facility.

Ice Industries has six facilities in Ohio, Mississippi and Mexico that offer manufacturing, stamping, fabrication, welding and assembly services. This is its first manufacturing facility in Louisiana.