NORTH KINGSTOWN – Zilmet USA, the American subsidiary of Italian expansion tank and plumbing products manufacturer Zilmet, has moved its headquarters from Rhode Island to South Carolina, where company leadership says the business found stronger growth opportunities.
Last month, Zilmet USA opened a 150,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in South Carolina, which general manager Scott Jacobsen said will employ about 50 people when it reaches full staffing.
The company had wanted to stay in Rhode Island, Jacobsen said, where it established a distribution center in 2012. Originally based in East Greenwich, Zilmet moved to Quonset Business Park's Flex Industrial Campus in 2021, which provided needed additional space.
But as the company planned to add a manufacturing facility to its U.S. operations, Jacobsen said that Rhode Island's economic team didn't have any assistance to offer when Zilmet reached out.
"They said, 'We can’t really help you,’ and they honestly didn’t really believe we were considering moving," Jacobsen said, "and that was the end of the conversation. It was a bit disappointing."
Representatives from R.I. Commerce Corp. did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
In South Carolina, economic leaders "went above and beyond to represent numerous options in the state for new locations and existing buildings," Jacobsen said, offering tours and information about each site.
"They make it easy to connect people relocating to the state with all the services available to get up and running, to get acclimated to the new environment quickly," he added.
The state's abundance of technical schools also appealed from a workforce development perspective, Jacobsen said.
“I love Rhode Island ... but this has definitely been a good move for the company,” he continued.
Around 14 employees worked at the Rhode Island distribution center, where Zilmet's lease terminates at the end of September. About six employees are either relocating to South Carolina or staying with the company on a primarily remote basis, with regular travel to the new headquarters. The remaining positions will be eliminated.
Quonset Business Park has a new tenant lined up to take over Zilmet's location, said David Preston, a spokesperson for Quonset Development Corp., but will not disclose the identity of the new occupant until a lease is officially signed.
The business park's Flex Industrial Campus remains in high demand, Preston said, with less than 1% of its 435,000 square feet available for lease. QDC established the flex industrial campus in 2017 with the intention of providing manufacturing, assembly, warehouse and office space.
Jacquelyn Voghel is a PBN staff writer. You may reach her at Voghel@PBN.com.
