Cxt To Build Plant In Midwest New Facility In Nebraska Will Manufacture Concrete Railroad Ties

Spokane-based CXT Inc., a manufacturer of concrete railroad ties, will expand its production capacity to Nebraska.

CXT will build a new tie manufacturing facility in Grand Island, Neb., to better supply the needs of Union Pacific Railroad, one of CXT’s most important customers.

Calling the move a milestone in the company’s history, CXT president and chief executive officer John White said, “It’s our first move to be a national player. This really changes the concept of our company.”

White and other company leaders have long aspired to taking CXT to a higher level, and White believes this is an important first step on that path.

“We are playing in a much broader arena now,” White said. “This gives more opportunities. And if we can do it (an expansion) once, we can do it again.”

The new facility will not change the company’s Spokane operations.

Union Pacific recently signed a five-year contract extension with CXT, which, White said, allowed CXT to commit the resources necessary to build the Nebraska plant.

“The Grand Island production facility will enable CXT and its employee-owners to extend and enhance our service capabilities for Union Pacific, expand geographically in the United States, continue our strong growth pattern, and add to our employee shareholder value,” White said.

CXT employs 160 at its production facilities in Spokane. The new plant will expand company employment to 200.

Construction on the new plant will begin immediately. Spokane staff will oversee construction and the initial start-up processes of the new facility to ensure consistency in productivity, development, quality and delivery, White said.

The plant will open in September, with projected annual revenues of about $8 million, increasing to $13 million by 2001.

CXT’s Spokane railroad operations generate more than $20 million in revenue annually.

CXT bills itself as a world leader in the production of engineered high-quality precast and prestressed concrete products. It specializes in concrete ties used by major railroads and most transit systems in the western United States.

CXT was established in Canada in 1973, and expanded into the United States, with Spokane as its headquarters, in 1985. After a series of corporate ownership changes, White and the United Steelworkers of America - representing CXT’s employees - put together an employee stock ownership plan to buy the company.

Last year, the company expanded its Spokane production facilities by 20,000 square feet to accommodate growing demand.

, DataTimes