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Area Development - Site Selection, Facility Planning and Workforce Development

Crest Industries To Build $15 Million Galvanizing Plant In South Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana

11/06/2013
Crest Industries will build a $15 million galvanizing plant in south Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana, to serve customers in the electric utility and petrochemical industries. The firm will begin construction of the 75,000-square-foot galvanizing facility in early 2014, with a completion date in 2015.

The expansion will furnish galvanized protective coatings for utility poles and equipment. Based in Pineville, Louisiana, Crest selected Tangipahoa Parish to tap a workforce in close proximity to key customers, which include expanding petrochemical facilities and power providers. The firm plans to create 70 new direct jobs. Crest selected a preferred site in the Robert, Louisiana, area for the galvanizing plant and is completing a review of property characteristics before disclosing the precise location in Tangipahoa Parish.

With six business subsidiaries, Crest Industries serves a global market of customers in the electric utility, commercial and industrial electrical contractor, and forestry industries. The Crest Industries galvanizing plant will bring services in-house that formerly were contracted to outside vendors.

“Crest Industries is grounded in Louisiana, and we are excited to be a part of building the local economic infrastructure by locating our latest industry expansion here,” Crest Industries CEO Kenny Robison said. “We want to create quality jobs employing local workers and graduates and help continue building our communities and state. Tangipahoa Parish provides us the opportunity to tap into a great workforce, as well as close access to a portion of our customer base.”

“The building of this state-of-the-art galvanizing plant, and the synergy it will provide to other business units, will enable us to ensure our customer base that we will be proactive in meeting their future requirements. This facility will provide galvanizing and coating services to a broad array of customers from major electric utilities and small rural co-ops, to chemical companies, steel service providers, and small business owners that require long-term protective coatings for their products. We are committed to our home state and the people of Louisiana and are proud to locate this expansion here,” he added.

Gov. Bobby Jindal said, “Crest Industries considered out-of-state locations before realizing it could find no better location to build and no better place to ramp up a workforce than in Louisiana. Our state’s commitment to a great business climate and world-class workforce solutions is convincing more and more companies like Crest to invest in Louisiana.”

To secure the project, the State of Louisiana offered a competitive incentive package that includes a $457,500 Economic Development Loan Program award, along with the services of LED FastStart, the state’s workforce development program. In addition, the company is expected to utilize the state’s Quality Jobs and Industrial Tax Exemption programs.

“We welcome Crest Industries to Tangipahoa Parish and look forward to building a great relationship with them,” said Executive Director Stacey Neal of Tangipahoa Parish Economic Development. “We are excited that the parish has been chosen for this expansion and are ready to assist Crest Industries in all phases of the project.”

“Crest Industries’ investment in Robert is proof-positive of the growth and business opportunities in Greater New Orleans,” said President and CEO Michael Hecht of Greater New Orleans Inc. “Companies from around the globe are choosing locations like Tangipahoa because of our unbeatable combination of friendly business conditions, low costs and high quality of life.”

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