21-04-2025
- Business
- Business Journals
PMI's Colorado Zyn factory hiring, on track for 2026 production
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The nicotine pouches proved popular after they debuted in 50 Colorado stores in 2014 before launching nationwide. Soon they'll be made in Aurora.
Work on establishing a Zyn manufacturing plant that makes a popular nicotine pouch product in Aurora is well underway. The facility is expected to bring hundreds of jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars to the state of Colorado.
Tobacco giant Philip Morris International unveiled plans for the $600 million Zyn factory last year.
'The facility has gone vertical, meaning the walls are up,' Wendy Mitchell, the president and CEO of the Aurora Economic Development Council, said in an email. 'The construction project alone is expected to create nearly 5,000 jobs related to the building of the facility with nearly $1 billion in economic impact.'
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PMI subsidiary Swedish Match makes the tobacco-free, small, white pouches with plant-based fibers that allow nicotine to be absorbed into the bloodstream.
As new details emerge about the complex that PMI is building, Zyn's growing hold on the nicotine market is making Aurora leaders evermore confident that their economic development strategy is working.
'It made me feel a sense of pride when they chose Aurora, because it spoke to Aurora being competitive in terms of other cities,' Aurora Mayor Mike Coffman said.
'The economic impact is going to be immense, given that it will potentially bring 500 jobs — 500 new jobs — into our city,' Coffman continued.
Construction intel
The Zyn facility is expected to begin preliminary operations by the end of 2025, with regular production starting in 2026, a July news release from PMI states.
The plant, described as 'Project Waterfall' in planning documents, will be located on about 150 acres northeast of the future 48th Avenue and Harvest Road intersection in Adams County near E-470. The site is about 8 miles northeast of the Colorado Freedom Memorial, where the initial announcement about PMI's plan to build a factory was unveiled in July.
Kairus Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Philip Morris International, purchased the site for $61.5 million in September from Sun Empire Venture, records filed in Adams County show.
Documents filed with Adams County in March show the facility will include four buildings with a total coverage of 839,500 square feet.
Project information shared online by Kairus shows the light manufacturing facility — the production of small or finished goods that typically involves less capital, labor and industrial infrastructure — will be a minimum of 600,000 square feet.
There will also be a two-story office building, ancillary support buildings, an associated parking area and landscaping.
PMI did not respond to a request for more information, but the company has publicly shared that its plans to open the factory next year are on track.
'Our greenfield site in Colorado is due to come online in early 2026, and we believe we are well-positioned to capture Zyn's potential over the coming years,' PMI said in a recent earnings call.
Manufacturing strategy
The plant is expected to be significant to the city. Once it's operational, the factory is estimated to generate $550 million in annual economic impact.
The plant fits into Aurora's strategy for economic development because manufacturers are a priority for the city, Mitchell said.
That's because manufacturing companies are a primary employer, pay high wages and require a skilled workforce, she said.
'Manufacturers create wealth and job stability in the region by producing products that are exported out of Colorado,' Mitchell said. 'Furthermore, suppliers will want to locate near manufacturing facilities they supply, which creates additional job opportunities and an increased tax base.'
Global companies, like PMI, also are a target for Aurora, according to Mitchell.
In a July news release, the Aurora Economic Development Council stated it spent 11 months working to attract PMI to Adams County. The EDC team helped with site selection, entitlements, due diligence, utilities, taxes and workforce resources, which ultimately convinced PMI to select Aurora as its preferred location.
Mitchell said PMI was drawn to the city because of its central location and diverse workforce.
Aurora also offers development-ready Xcel Energy Certified Sites, locations that have been given the power company's stamp of approval for their availability of necessary utilities.
The facility will be PMI's second one in the United States.
Zyn's footprint
Swedish Match began a pilot project in 2014, selling the pouches in 50 stores in Colorado before launching the product nationwide. PMI later acquired Swedish Match in November 2022.
Zyn is now the leading nicotine pouch brand in the U.S. market, according to PMI's 2024 annual report. In 2023, PMI's smoke-free product shipments reached 522.5 million cans in the Americas, a number driven by Zyn nicotine pouches sold in the United States, PMI noted in its report.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration authorized the marketing of 20 Zyn nicotine pouch products in January, marking the first time the agency permitted companies to market these types of products.
'The FDA's authorization marks an important step in the protection of public health by recognizing the role that ZYN can play in providing better alternatives to cigarettes and other traditional tobacco products for legal-age adults,' PMI's annual report stated.
The market for smoke-free products has been robust, equating to 38.6 million users and business net revenues of around 39% of PMI's total net revenues, the report noted.
The growing popularity of the product and the FDA authorization bode well for Aurora.
"It speaks to really what the demand is going to be and that equates to how many jobs they are going to create, and so I think it clears the way for potentially having a strong demand for their further product and creating more jobs in Aurora accordingly," Coffman said.
The company is currently hiring for a variety of jobs at the manufacturing facility that range from engineers, production staff, quality control and technicians. The anticipated average annual salary is around $90,000, Mitchell said.
PMI officials previously said the nicotine-pouch producing facility will help the company work toward its goal to create a 'smoke-free future.'
'Projects like this facility in Aurora are pivotal to meeting the growing global demands for better nicotine options by innovating, investing, caring for our communities and neighbors,' Stacey Kennedy, PMI Americas president and U.S. CEO, said in July. 'We move closer every day to a future where cigarettes are a thing of the past.'
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