Cat moving forward
August 16, 2010 By: Pit & Quarry Staff
One reliable sign that predicts growth for the construction and aggregates industries is the activities of Caterpillar. Based on what I see, the company is positioning itself to take advantage of the future. Cat announced plans to build a new plant in Winston-Salem, N.C., that will create 400 jobs. The company will open an engineering design center in Rapid City, S.D. The new facility, known as the Black Hills Engineering Design Center, will provide additional engineering support services for Caterpillar's U.S. operations and will complement the company's existing engineering design centers in Chennai, India, and Champaign, Ill. Caterpillar will also add more than 325 jobs over the next five years as it makes a $28 million investment at its Lee County, N.C., plant. The company said that the expansion, which will include a 270,000-sq.-ft. building addition, will provide additional capacity to meet growing global demand. Ann Duignan, an analyst at JPMorgan Chase & Co. in New York, said in a report, “We believe the market is overlooking what could turn out to be the beginning of the next multi-year construction cycle in the U.S.” Caterpillar obviously sees the same thing, and will be ready when that cycle comes full swing. – Mark S. Kuhar
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