OUTLET: The Virginian-Pilot

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, it is Virginia’s second most populated city, 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. 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.

The new facility will double the company’s production capabilities. Additionally, Plasser will buy more equipment, including a new industrial paint booth for its bright yellow repair machines.

The Virginia Economic Development Partnership, along with Chesapeake’s economic development department and the Port of Virginia, helped secure the project. Gov. Ralph Northam approved a $450,000 grant from the Commonwealth’s Opportunity Fund as part of development incentives.

The project will be completed in phases, with the office building scheduled for completion by the end of the year. The expanded manufacturing facility is planned to finish by the end of 2022.

Plasser American was founded in Illinois and moved to Chesapeake in 1970 to be closer to the Port of Virginia, according to the company.

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