May 16, 2008

River Steel expands into West Salem

River Steel Inc last week announced that it has begun operating in its new fabrication facility in West Salem. The new facility is located within the Lakeview Business Park at 1115 Industrial Drive. The new plant was built due to increased and sustained business within the industries it primarily services.

Mr Timothy Brennan CEO & president of River Steel Inc and its affiliate company La Crosse Technical Consultants announced the USD 6.9 million expansion to company staff at a recent employee meeting. Construction of the project is expected to begin in March of 2007, with completion of the project by December of that year. It is expected that the company will begin hiring an additional 30 experienced welders and machine operators in the very near future.

Mr Timothy Brennan added that “This doubling of the size of our fabrication operation is due in a large part to the increased order demand from our longtime client, Bucyrus International, Inc of South Milwaukee in Wisconsin, the world leader in large electric earthmovers and heavy excavating machines. Our company typically fabricates for BUCYRUS the operator cab, main house structure, control room, utility room, lube room and filter houses for the company’s 100 tonne capacity Model 495 Electric Mining Shovel, of which we usually fabricate 4 to 6 units per year.”

He added that “Due to the increasing global demand for coal, iron ore, copper and oil (tar sands), the industry projects a period of prolonged growth resulting in an anticipated increase in orders and production volume.”

River Steel is a full service steel fabricator and manufacturer supplying original equipment manufacturing components, structural fabrication, heavy duty trailers and other custom manufactured orders for fabricators, manufacturers and suppliers. The company, founded in 1954, currently operates out of a 50,000 square foot facility on 9 acres of land and employs 38 people, averaging over 16 years of tenure with the company.