BLYTHEWOOD – A Blythewood plant located in Carolina Pines industrial park, Intertape Polymer Group, has been named one of 12 Industry Week finalists for North America.

“It’s the first time we entered and we’re a finalist,” Plant Manager Tyrone Javis said in an interview with The Voice. “And we’re expecting to win.”

The Blythewood plant makes myriad general purpose and industrial grade tapes including duct tape, masking tape and flat back packaging tape as well as stencil tape for the monument industry.

The original plant was located in Columbia on Shop Road dating back to the 1930s and officially moved to Blythewood in 2014. The company, which is headquartered in Sarasota, FL, is global with 22 plants.

Of the 12 industries selected for the recognition, three are located in South Carolina – Boeing in Landis and another plant in Travelers Rest.

To be considered for the recognition, Javis said the plant had to show three years of continuous improvement in growth within the organization.

“They’ve asked us to follow up on a couple of action items and will do an onsite audit to confirm what we stated were our improvements,” Javis said. “It’s absolutely a big deal, and we’re excited about it.”

A plant celebration will be held next week in recognition of the achievement.

The top winner will be announced in the first quarter of 2019.