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Area Development - Site Selection, Facility Planning and Workforce Development

Railcar Manufacturing Company Expects to Add 500 to 700 New Jobs at Its Factories This Year

10/05/2011
Due to orders "piling up" from freight haulters, American Railcar has announced it will add between 500 and 700 new jobs this year to its factories located in Arkansas and Missouri. The company currently employs 1,000 workers-more than double the number of employees it had recently on the payroll at its three plants.

American expects to build about 30,000 railcars this year, said Jack Pipkin, VP of global railcar manufacturing, and demand for 2012 could exceed 50,000 railcars. This rapid growth is projected to continue through 2015, he added.

"One of the ways I have of judging the strength of the economy is watching the freight trains that pass the factory," noted Pipkin.

The new orders aren't just replacements of old freight cars, he explained. Rather, they're from customers requesting differing styles of railcars; including freight cars to transport sand used in natural gas drilling in shale areas such as those in north Louisiana and central Arkansas.

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