Omaha Steel Castings Co. in Nebraska plans to build a new plant and relocate from its urban location to Wahoo, NE, about 26 miles away. The new location is in an agricultural area, about midway between Omaha and Lincoln, NE. The 106-year-old business will invest in new equipment and relocate some of its operations, and hopes to begin construction by July 1, Omaha Steel president and owner Phil Teggart told the Lincoln Journal Star.
The project is estimated at $12 million.
"We looked in Omaha first, but after three years, we found out there's not a lot of heavy industrial property in Omaha and the property that was available was outrageous," Teggart told the newspaper. He added that Wahoo, with a population of 4,500, had been very receptive to the development plan.
The company’s new 20-acre site has been used as farmland, and has not yet been rezoned for industrial use. Construction permitting also has yet to be completed. The new plant will have two buildings, initially, one of 100,000 ft2 and another of 30,000 ft2. The development is seen taking 18 to 24 months.
Omaha Steel Castings is a green sand and no-bake foundry for products weighing up to 4,000 lb. in carbon and low-alloy steel, corrosion-resistant high-alloy steels, nickel-based alloys, and tool steels. It produces its own cores and patterns. Its current melt shop has a five-ton electric arc furnace and five coreless induction furnaces.
The foundry also operates a heat-treating operation and an extensive machine shop, as well as metallurgical testing and NDT laboratories.