Officials from Italian packaging company Gruppo Fanti held a ground breaking ceremony for a new can facility in West Virginia, US.

The new can plant was first announced in 2020 and will be the company’s first site in the United States as well as its largest expansion.

Gruppo Fanti will invest $30million into the site and create an initial 40 new full-time positions.

A groundbreaking ceremony was held at the location for the new plant in Weirton, WV.

The company is modifying and existing site in Brooke County and expects to start production in Q2 of 2022.

The company estimates that it manufacturers more than 100 million cans a year already.

Speaking at the time when it was first announced, Stefano Fanti, Chairman of Fanti Packaging, said: “My father Giorgio Fanti, founder of Fanti Group, visited this area in the United States for the first time in the 70’s to see how U.S. manufacturers worked and to see if it was possible to buy some steel.

“I was a kid at that time, but I still remember when he left home ‘per l’America’ and when he returned to Italy after a long business trip bringing lots of ‘strange’ presents and toys.

“Now, after 50 years, I am glad to achieve my father’s American dream by starting a production plant in the United States. Our U.S. entity will be established in Weirton, West Virginia, and it will be legally owned by our main company located in Bologna, Italy, that has the name of my father.”