City Attorney Jack McLemore said Vidalia would be closing the deal on the coming rubber recycling plant by the end of the year.

The company, Louisiana Elastomer, L.L.C., or LAEL, will construct a 50,000 sq. ft. building in Vidalia’s industrial park, McLemore said.

In August, the city donated 25 acres in the park to LAEL for the construction of the plant.

LAEL will recycle and process used rubber from tires and other sources to make other rubber products such as car bumpers, truck bed liners and shoes.

McLemore said the company plans to process 1.3 million tires per year.

LAEL Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Tommy Ferrara said the plant would bring about 35 new jobs after opening and 65 after the first year.

Eventually, the plant will create about 130 new jobs, Ferrara said.

“I think it’s an exciting opportunity for Vidalia and for the surrounding area,” Ferrara said.

The majority of employees the plant would hire, Ferrara said, would be machine operators, foremen, shipping and receiving personnel, office staff and management personnel.

Ferrara said the recycling process would be pollutant-free but would give off a smell of new rubber.

“The smell is that new-tire smell, but I don’t find that offensive,” Ferrara said.

“I like the smell, personally.”

McLemore said LAEL will invest about $10 million in the plant with $1.5 million coming from a private investor.

The plant is also getting a $6.5 million construction loan from Biz Capital, $700,000 from the Department of Environmental Quality and a Community Development Block Grant of $639,000.

City Manager Kenneth Davis said a contractor had been hired for construction of the plant but he could not release the name or the estimated time for construction.

Mayor Hyram Copeland could not be reached for comment.