The Port Arthur Economic Development Corporation hit a home run with the announcement that Ryze Renewables, a new company that plans to create 500 new jobs, is coming to Port Arthur. The announcement was made Wednesday evening at the regular meeting of the EDC that the company planned to invest $200 million to start two different businesses in Port Arthur. One will use scraps from the textile industry and manufacture a variety of products. The other will take materials left over from the first and manufacture floor tiles.

The EDC has agreed to provide $1.5 million in incentives to the company, half up front to pay for equipment and to help the firm get started. The rest will be contingent on the company’s payroll and employment, Floyd Batiste, EDC executive director, said. To meet the terms of the incentives, the company is required to hire 260 Port Arthur residents and over a three-year period meet a payroll of $16 million for Port Arthur residents. The average pay for workers at the new companies will be around $42,000, according to information provided at Wednesday’s event.

Joy Nunn, managing partner and inventor of the patented process that revitalizes the textile fibers, also credited the Port of Port Arthur for welcoming the company with open arms and said the area’s ocean access and rail service make it a perfect location to import raw materials from overseas. The jobs created by Ryze Renewables will not be part of the petrochemical industry and will help insulate the city from the ups and downs in the oil patch.

A lot of behind-the-scenes work goes on before an announcement can be made about a new company coming to town. The work to attract Ryze Renewables looks like a huge success for all those involved.