Neapco adding more jobs in Beatrice

by Guest Fri Mar 25, 2011 5:14 pm

Neapco adding more jobs in Beatrice

Neapco Components revealed Friday that its expansion in Beatrice will be bigger than originally announced.
Neapco Components President Keith Sanford, who was in Beatrice to celebrate the grand opening of the company's new 100,000-square-foot building, said the expansion is expected to bring 150 new jobs to Beatrice by the end of this year.
That's nearly double the 70 to 90 jobs the company estimated would come to the Gage County city of 12,000 when it announced the expansion a year ago.
Thanks to a $1 million community development block grant provided by the Nebraska Department of Economic Development, the company made the decision to expand its Beatrice facility rather than the Pottstown, Penn., plant, where the company is headquartered.
Neapco, which makes driveline components and assemblies for automotive, off-road and commercial vehicles, also received $380,000 in job training funds from DED, and has applied for Nebraska Advantage incentives.
"The partnership and support from the Nebraska Department of Economic Development was instrumental in making this project possible," Sanford said.
"It's a very competitive location, and we feel we're going to continue to grow," he said. "We're always looking for additional business, and we laid this building out so we can add an additional 100,000-square-foot building next to this. After that, we're out of space here."
Sanford said some of the additional jobs coming to Beatrice are the result of Neapco's winning business from a competitor.
"One of the components we produce for Polaris ATVs was actually taken from a competitor in Mexico," Sanford said. "That added about 30 to 40 jobs here in Beatrice."
Many of the new jobs in Beatrice are going to former workers at Husqvarna Turf Care, which closed its Beatrice plant last year, putting nearly 400 people out of work.
"I think, given what's happened to Beatrice and the surrounding area the last two years, this is very good news for us," said Beatrice Mayor Dennis Schuster Schuster said. "We're on the way back. We're on the way up again."

http://journalstar.com/business/local/article_04d461c1-2a5d-5970-bf14-dc1e08ddabcb.html