An Iowa-based manufacturing company has quietly taken over the former Collins & Aikman plant and hired 65 employees, said Bernie Andrews, president of Regional Economic Development Inc.

Engineered Plastic Components, or EPC, of Grinnell, Iowa, recently closed a deal to buy the plant at 4000 Waco Road from bankrupt automotive parts manufacturer Collins & Aikman, which employed 250 workers when it shut the plant down this summer.

EPC offers design and manufacturing services for a variety of plastic molded products used in the automotive, banking, agricultural and heating and air conditioning industries.

"We’re happy that they have chosen to invest in Columbia and put some people to work," Andrews said of EPC. "We’re glad that they have extra floor space that can be used for their diverse product line, and we hope they will expand and create additional jobs."

In January, Southfield, Mich.-based Collins & Aikman filed a notice that it planned to close the local plant and sell the site. The plant assembled instrument panels for Chrysler, Saturn and Mitsubishi models.

Andrews said that EPC officials contacted his office about six months ago and requested information about Columbia, along with state and local economic incentive programs. EPC management already had begun talks with Collins & Aikman about purchasing the plant, Andrews said.

An EPC switchboard operator this morning said no authorized representatives of the company were available for comment.

The takeover of the Columbia plant was a seamless transition for EPC, Andrews said, because the company is using the facility to manufacture a similar product line. He said the Columbia plant makes injection molded plastic interior trim products for the Gallant, Eclipse and Endeavor models manufactured by Mitsubishi.

The company’s main plant in Grinnell is a "brand new, state-of-the-art 125,000-square-foot facility," EPC President Reza Kargarzadeh said on the company’s Web site.

Andrews said local officials, reeling from layoffs at local manufacturers, are relieved that the former Collins & Aikman plant "did not stay empty for long." The plant was the second local automotive parts manufacturing facility to shut down in recent months.

In December, Summit Polymers completed a phased shutdown of its plant at 1550 Boone Industrial Blvd., resulting in a layoff of 190 employees.