Some cash-rich companies have increased their capital spending to expand local plants.

Milliken has begun work on a 16,210 squarefoot expansion to its Blacksburg operations facility. The building will house a new plating process, according to the latest local homebuilders report. The textile-maker plans to invest $1.2 million in the building itself, Cherokee County Building Official Chuck Bobo said.

“It will be a heavy duty, custom-built building,” Bobo said.

The contractor is nearly finished pouring the concrete footing for the structure, Bobo said.

It’s unclear if the expansion means more jobs since Milliken officials were unable to be reached for comment Friday afternoon.

Another company, ammunitions maker DSE Inc., is planning a 7,000 square-foot expansion that will add jobs — maybe as many as 100 — to its work force, Bobo said.

The Florida-based manufacturer bought the former National Textiles plant in 2007 with plans to turn the facility into an ammunition manufacturing facility for the U.S. military.

The plant produces small grenades slightly larger than a shotgun shell.

There also was good news concerning the commercial sector in the latest building report.

The city issued a building permit, valued at $1 million, for the new Olive Garden restaurant, and Founders Federal Credit Union obtained a permit for its Floyd Baker Boulevard location valued at $175,000.

On the housing front, there were seven new housing starts in the county last month, more than doubling the three new housing starts in July 2009.