Procter & Gamble's Factory to be Bigger Than Planned

A West Virginia official says Procter & Gamble’s planned factory in Berkeley County will be bigger than originally envisioned.

The maker of Tide detergent and Charmin bathroom tissue announced in February that the $500 million plant in the Tabler Station Business Park near Martinsburg would employ 700 workers when it opens in 2017.

Commerce Secretary Keith Burdette told the state Economic Development Authority’s board on Thursday that the company now plans to employ about 1,100 people at the nearly 460-acre site. Plans call for a building of 4.3 million square feet, more than four times the original projection.

Burdette said the amount of the investment and number of jobs may increase even more.

Groundbreaking is expected in early fall.