Page 8 - Flathead Beacon // 12.14.16

CITY BEAT 14 COURT BEAT 15 Newsworthy
Company Eyes CFAC Site for Large-Scale Manufacturing Plant White sh Energy Holdings aims to manufacture power transformers, could add 1,000 jobs to local economy
BY TRISTAN SCOTT OF THE BEACON
COLUMBIA FALLS — Company o - cials from a leading transformer manu- facturer in Brazil visited Columbia Falls on Dec. 12 to explore options for estab- lishing a manufacturing plant locally, and are casting a keen eye toward using the former site of the Columbia Falls Alu- minum Company.
The owner of Brazil-based Comtrafo S.A. and the company’s chief nancial o cer have partnered with Andy Tech- manski of White sh Energy Holdings to explore building a plant in North Amer- ica, with a Flathead Valley location as their top choice. The thrust of their busi- ness plan is to develop a manufacturing plant that would construct and service power transformers, power line utilities and substations for regional utilities.
Techmanski estimated the plant would employ 1,000 workers at maxi- mum market potential and 250 employ- ees initially.
“This would position us as the only transformer manufacturer in the Paci c Northwest, and it is very much within our grasp,” Techmanski said. “The Flathead Valley is at the top of our list, and our rst choice is the CFAC site.”
While touring the shuttered CFAC plant on Monday morning, Techmanski said the deserted manufacturing site, where CFAC once stood out as the community’s indus- trial backbone, “ ts the blueprint” for the business plan because of its size, its prox- imity to a rail spur and the access it pro- vides to an adequate power supply.
Adding a layer of complexity to the task of repurposing the site, however, is the property’s recent addition to the federal Superfund program’s National Priorities List. The decision by the U.S. Environ- mental Protect Agency was announced in September, and is meant to ensure that the property’s owner, Glencore, a global commodities trading and mining giant based in Switzerland, will be held nancially accountable for cleaning up any hazardous materials and addressing other environmental impacts.
Techmanski said he and his partners, Comtrafo owner Raphael Minato and CFO Irineu Minato, were still trying to navigate the ner points of the Superfund program and what constraints it might foist on their business plan, but intend to conduct an upcoming site analysis.
After touring the CFAC site, the part- ners met with Columbia Falls City Man- ager Susan Nicosia and other members of
From left, Andy Techmanski, Raphael Minato, owner of Comtrafo S.A., and Irineu Minato, CFO, pictured at the Columbia Falls Aluminum Company site. GREG LINDSTROM | FLATHEAD BEACON
the local business communities, includ- ing Jerry Meerkatz, director of Mon- tana West Economic Development, and received strong support.
Nicosia said she was encouraged by the potential for job growth in an economy still reeling from Weyerhaeuser Compa- ny’s decision to close its lumber and ply- wood mills in Columbia Falls in August, displacing roughly 100 workers. Another 50-100 positions are expected to be lost at Weyerhaeuser’s administrative head- quarters by the end of this year.
Discussions are still in the preliminary stages, and city o cials must explore what kind of incentives and tax breaks they might be able to provide White sh Energy, but Nicosia said she looked for- ward to working with the company.
“Obviously with that kind of prospec- tive employment, when you’re talking between 250 and 1,000 new jobs, we are very much looking forward to working with them,” she said. “The opportunity to provide good stable employment, not only for Columbia Falls but the whole Flathead Valley, is a very exciting pros- pect, and we will work with them in any way we can.”
Techmanski said White sh Energy is in the process of developing a “Mon- tana Industrial Economic Development Initiative” and plans on presenting it to Gov. Steve Bullock in the coming weeks in hopes of convincing the state to issue seed money grants, guarantee bonds and o er income tax breaks or credits.
In order to justify building a manufac- turing plant, Techmanski estimated the company would need to generate $15 mil- lon to $20 million in backorders. He said he hopes regional utilities like Northwest- ern Energy, Montana Dakota Utilities, Flathead Electric, Paci Corp, and others
will come online with interest, explaining that a manufacturing center in their back- yard would be mutually bene cial.
The plant would be the only such facil- ity in the region capable of manufactur- ing 345 kilovolt power transformers, and Techmanski said the workforce to run the plant already exists in Columbia Falls.
“Montana needs some good job news and we are trying to ignite that with our plans,” he said. “We believe a lot of the core skills we need we can harness here in the valley, and that are left over from the previous factory and logging layo s.”
tscott@ atheadbeacon.com
“THE OPPORTUNITY TO PROVIDE GOOD STABLE EMPLOYMENT, NOT ONLY FOR COLUMBIA FALLS BUT THE WHOLE FLATHEAD VALLEY, IS A VERY EXCITING PROSPECT, AND WE WILL WORK WITH THEM IN ANY WAY WE CAN.”
- SUSAN NICOSIA, COLUMBIA FALLS CITY MANAGER
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DECEMBER 14, 2016 // FLATHEADBEACON.COM