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Friday, July 30, 2010 |
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Caterpillar contractors now hiring
Published December 16, 2009
SEGUIN — The first production jobs associated with the new Caterpillar diesel engine plant now under construction on the west end of town could be filled just after the first of the coming year.
Seguin Economic Development Director Terry Treviño briefed City Council and county commissioners on the progress of the build on the $180 million, 1 million square-foot plant where Caterpillar will build and paint engines for heavy construction, marine petroleum and over-the-road trucks just before commissioners voted unanimously to extend a 100 percent abatement of taxes on real and personal property on the site for 10 years.
The abatement is part of a package of incentives extended by local and state officials late in 2008 that include $10 million investment by the Texas Enterprise Fund and other infrastructure improvements agreed to by a number of agencies including Springs Hill Water Supply Corp., the Lower Colorado River Authority, CenterPoint Energy, Guadalupe Valley Electric Cooperative and others.
Construction, Treviño reported, is on schedule, and two local private employment agencies are set to begin hiring workers for two primary Caterpillar contractors whose employees will work at the plant.
“The main assembly building is under roof, and they’re currently installing equipment inside,” Treviño said.
Caterpillar has been in negotiations with suppliers, and two who will have workers at the facility have been identified, Treviño told commissioners. Both are in the process of setting up local hiring operations, she said.
Texas Powertrain Assembly LLC has started the local hiring process, and a second firm will just after the first of next month.
“A small team is in place at the facility and hiring will ramp up gradually,” Treviño said.
She urged anyone who believes they might want to work at the facility to contact VIP Staffing Or Hawkins Personnel Group, which will be the hiring agencies for Texas Powertrain Assembly LLC and Ranew’s, a Georgia-based industrial painting contractor.
Mayor Betty Ann Matthies said that applicants were originally told to apply for Caterpillar jobs with the Texas Workforce Commission, and she said those applicants will not need to resubmit their information.
“All the applications put in at the Texas Workforce Commission will be forwarded the staffing agenices,” she said.
County Judge Mike Wiggins said he welcomed the news of the progress at Caterpillar.
“No question, it’s a huge success story for both the citizens of Seguin and Guadalupe County,” Wiggins said. “It’s a very positive sign, especially considering the economic situation the last 12 or 18 months.”
Wiggins said he’d been told Caterpillar hopes to have some production under way by the end of the first quarter, 2010 with full production to come in 2011.
In all, about 1,500 jobs are anticipated in the plant itself, and another dozen or so primary suppliers are expected to locate manufacturing or warehousing facilities of their own within a few miles of the plant — and employ another 2,500 workers.
Wiggins would like to see every one of those workers be locals.
“This is a great thing for the entire region — not just Seguin, Schertz-Cibolo and Marion, but also for Comal, Hays and Bexar counties,” Wiggins said. “It’s a great opportunity when you consider the level of wages Caterpillar is going to pay. A lot of people working at minimum wage or a little higher will have the opportunity to better themselves.”
Most of the jobs created by the opening of the Seguin plant will be open to local workers.
Average wages in the Caterpillar plant are expected to be about $21 per hour or $44,500 per year plus benefits.
The Seguin plant replaces assembly lines in Greenville, S.C., and in Mossville, Ill.
Two local employment firms are beginning the process of hiring employees who will work for two companies at the Caterpillar plant. For information, call Hawkins Personnel Group in Seguin at 830-303-5882 and VIP Staffing in New Braunfels at 830-629-2525 or at 210-340-2000.
VIP Staffing will open a location at 1499 E. Court St. in January.
Hawkins Personnel Group is located at 809 E. Court St., Suite 106.
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