A local company with multinational interests has expanded its foreign business.
BID Group of Companies, based in Vanderhoof and Prince George, owns a division in Quebec and South Carolina. The American branch has experienced such growth that BID Group is investing about $1.8 million to expand the operation in the town of St. George. The 40,000-square-foot steel fabricating facility there will be enlarged by another 3,500 square feet plus a new, more efficient staging area for all the trucking needed to move supplies in and products out of the plant.
The plant builds machinery used inside sawmills, planer mills and in other forestry-related facilities, things like conveyors, lumber sorters, wave-feeders, structural steel, plus engineering consultation and site support for mill construction and maintenance. It is similar to what the company also does in B.C. where they employ more than 400 people.
They added the South Carolina division about a year ago.
"We are proud to announce this expansion to assist with the growing forest industry requirements in the south," said BID Group CEO Brian Fehr. "Our decision to relocate some of our manufacturing to South Carolina in 2013 is paying off for us and our customers and we look forward to growing our business in Dorchester County and specifically the great community of St. George."
The state's governor Nikki Haley welcomed the announcement.
"In 2013 the BID Group chose to locate in our state and less than a year later they are ready to expand - a clear indication that South Carolina has the workforce and business environment companies need in order to succeed in the global market. We celebrate BID Group's decision to invest $1.8 million into Comact and create 60 new jobs."
The 60 will be at full complement by 2016. Only seven months ago, BID Group's Comact USA operation numbered six people.
Robotic tools - namely a fabrication robot called a Python - will be installed at the St. George plant as part of the expansion. While mechanizing factories has replaced large numbers of humans in some settings, this one is stimulating new jobs. The Python will ensure 80 per cent of the mundane moving of steel inside the plant is handled mechanically so BID Group can budget instead for a workforce of higher paid and higher educated workers for engineering and fabricating. This will allow for a breakthrough amount of work the company will be eligible for. It is estimated that this expansion will allow Comact USA to increase productivity by at least 50 per cent.
This will also increase spinoff service and supply work for partner firms around the Dorchester County region.
