BUSINESS Chesapeake railroad equipment maker to expand, add 98 new jobs

Hat tip, a listserv I'm on

BUSINESS

Chesapeake railroad equipment maker to expand, add 98 new jobs

By TREVOR METCALFE
INSIDE BUSINESS | MAR 03, 2021 AT 5:14 PM

CHESAPEAKE — A South Norfolk manufacturer of huge railroad repair machines plans to significantly expand its operations and add 98 new jobs to the region.

Plasser American, which operates its 150,000-square-foot headquarters in the Chesapeake neighborhood, announced the $52.6 million expansion project at a groundbreaking ceremony Wednesday. The company will build an 82,000-square-foot manufacturing facility and a 45,000-square-foot, three-story office building near the company’s current location off Atlantic Avenue.

At the announcement, Chesapeake Mayor Rick West noted the similar paths of Plasser and the city — the company began in 1961 and Chesapeake was founded just two years later. Now, Chesapeake is the second largest city in Virginia, surpassing Norfolk in a 2020 estimate. ... “You’ve grown,” West said. “We have grown.” ... Plasser’s growth also speaks to the stability and essential nature of railroads in the United States, said Thomas Blechinger, company president and CEO. He said the company, which employs just over 300 people, has being growing for six decades and has never laid off an employee due to an economic downturn.

As part of the expansion project, Plasser will hire 98 more employees in manufacturing and engineering, said Joe Stark, vice president of operations and production. Those jobs will pay $50,000 to $70,000 a year, he said.

{snip}

Trevor Metcalfe, 757-222-5345, trevor.metcalfe@insidebiz.com