Springfield Wins Stainless Technology Expansion with Help of New Missouri Works Program

By: Rachael Mhire | 10 years ago

Stainless Technology, manufacturer of high quality stainless steel biopharmaceutical tanks and vessels, announced that they have opted to expand in Springfield – adding up to 75,000 sq. ft. to their existing operation, a multi-million dollar, multi-phase capital investment anticipated to generate up to 88 quality jobs with an average wage well above the local average.
For parent company, ABEC Inc., the selection process for this expansion was highly competitive and came down to plants in two communities – Springfield and Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. In the end, Springfield and Missouri offered more opportunities, including the use of the new Missouri Works program.

“Springfield’s strong stainless steel industry has provided us the labor force to continually grow our operation,” said Scott Pickering, President and CEO of ABEC Inc. “With that quality workforce in place, the benefits Missouri Works will provide made our decision to select Springfield the best decision for our business.”

Missouri Works, the state’s comprehensive incentive program to promote business investment and job creation, has just become available, which greatly simplified ABEC’s decision to expand in Springfield. Missouri Works offers a mix of automatic and discretionary benefits in the form of 100% retention of state withholding tax and refundable tax credits for qualified companies. Stainless Technology will be among the first companies in the state to take advantage of refundable tax credits available through this program.

The quality of the production workforce and low cost of doing business in Springfield has led Stainless Technology and other notable manufacturers, including Tank Components Industries and Paul Mueller Company, to grow substantially in this region over the past year. These expansions are not only significant growth within the stainless steel manufacturing sector, but also among manufacturing in the Springfield region as a whole. In fact, manufacturing employment in Springfield has grown by 13% since 2010.

Stainless Technology is located in Partnership Industrial Center, a 360-acre master-planned industrial park ground that offers cost-effective, development-ready sites with utilities, roads, and permits in place. Partnership Industrial Center West is Springfield’s second industrial park on 400 acres located adjacent to I-44 and the Springfield-Branson National Airport. The park has nearly 200 acres remaining for development.