Ground Force to expand in Post Falls

A Post Falls manufacturer of above-ground mining equipment is planning a $6.5 million expansion that should create at least 50 jobs as it starts making equipment for underground mining.

Ground Force Manufacturing’s sister company will be called Underground Force, the company’s vice president, John Chambers, told the Idaho Economic Advisory Council on Thursday as the city of Post Falls applied for federal community development block grant funds to assist the expansion.

The state council approved recommending to the governor that Post Falls receive $495,000 in block grant funds to support the company expansion along Seltice Way, on the eastern edge of the city. The block grant money would be used to expand sewer and water lines and improve the streetscape with curbs, a paved trail, trees and lighting.

Ground Force’s expansion will add an 80,000-square-foot building across the street to the northeast of the company’s existing 36,000-square-foot fabrication facility at 5650 E. Seltice Way.

“It’s all about job creation,” said Mayor Clay Larkin, who noted unemployment in Post Falls is 12.57 percent. “This is not a company that’s here today and gone tomorrow. They’re here for the long haul.”

The public improvement project also will prepare that area of the city for future business growth, said Bill Melvin, the city engineer. The city will contribute $45,000 in staff time and resources.

Ground Force expects to begin construction on its new building this month and finish it by January. The city’s work, which will be subject to a competitive bidding process, should begin in October and be complete by November, Melvin said.

Chambers said that 80 percent of Ground Force’s business is international, with customers in 36 countries. Company President Ron Nilson could not be present because he was meeting with customers in England. Chambers said the company currently has 115 employees, but, with the expansion, hopes to grow to at least 200 employees.

Chambers said modifying mining vehicles for underground operations represents a “huge market” for Ground Force. The jobs to be added include engineers, welders and fabricators. Engineers’ pay ranges from $15 an hour up to $30, he said. Welders can expect to make $13 to $17 an hour. The jobs include medical benefits.

Ground Force’s 115 employees currently work in a building designed for 80 people, Chambers said.

In order to be eligible to receive a federal block grant, municipalities have to meet one of three national objectives, said Dennis Porter, who manages the program for the Idaho Department of Commerce. In the case of Ground Force, he said, 51 percent of the jobs created must benefit low- to moderate-income people. The other national objectives are eliminating blight or addressing an imminent threat, such as a natural disaster.