Ammunition maker looks to colleges
LEWISTON – An ammunition maker in North Idaho is having such a difficult time finding workers that it is considering creating internships with the University of Idaho, Lewis-Clark State College and Washington State University.
“The Lewiston plant is doing excellent,” Marty Zacha, director of Lewiston operations of ATK ammunitions systems group, told the Lewiston Tribune. “Volumes are very good. Business is at an all-time high. The future looks very promising for that to continue.”
The plant has about 830 workers, and many must work mandatory overtime as managers try to expand capacity.
“Once the plant catches up with demand, that will come more into check,” said Zacha, who began work at the plant June 1 after transferring from Lake City, Mo., where he directed production of M-16 ammunition for the federal government.
ATK has 50 facilities in 21 states. It acquired the Lewiston plant, then CCI/Speer, in 2001. The company, according to its Web site, specializes in conventional munitions and rocket motors but is looking to produce more advanced weapon and space systems.
The Lewiston plant produces .22- and .17-caliber rimfire bullets and centerfire pistol ammunition for law enforcement.
The plant also makes primers, the part of the ammunition that ignites cartridges, and powerloads, which are used in construction for driving nails or other fasteners.
It can take weeks to fill entry-level positions at the plant and months to fill professional slots, Zacha said. Starting internships with students from nearby schools, he said, could entice some of those workers to remain at ATK after they graduate.
He also said the company is looking to partner with technical programs in the region to train people for work at ATK.
One possible barrier to expanding the plant, he said, is water, which the company uses to cool machines. It is also used in a process for applying nickel and copper coating to bullets and cases. Water baths disperse the metals, with the water conducting electricity and allowing the metals to adhere.
The company has a $90 million contract with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and the Lewiston plant will make much of the centerfire pistol ammunition for that contract.
“The law enforcement business, which we do a lot of, is looking very good,” Zacha says. “They are doing a lot of training with the terrorist threat and Homeland Security.”
He said the company would still produce plenty of ammunition for the military if the war in Iraq were to end.
“We pull out, but we still leave a lot of troops,” he said.