Potentially 250 new jobs are coming to the Austin County Area. The City of Sealy held a press conference today announcing that SNC-Lavalin will be opening a new facility in the Sealy TX area. The company will be leasing a portion of the property located at 5000 NW 1-10 Frontage Road at what was previously the BAE facility. Three of the buildings on the complex area, where the fabrication facilities were located, will be the primary site of occupation. These three buildings are approximately 396,000 square feet in area.
The primary product that will be produced at the new facility will be oil and gas equipment (compressors, surface equipment, process modules, etc.). The company will have positions such as engineers, accounting, project managers, warehouse attendants, general laborers and other positions. The company is shooting for a target opening date in early August through September and to be fully occupied by the end of September.
Since the company produces for the oil and gas industry it is highly susceptible to the price of oil as to the level of its production and employment needs. James Gill, Chief Operating Officer for the new facility, stated that they are anticipating the market stabilizing around the first quarter of next year and will steadily increase the facilities output from there. The facility will be starting with around 100 to 120 positions to begin with. Eric Heinle, Vice President of Fabrication, stated that they are looking to put together a skeleton crew in the next month to month and a half.
Gill stated that the company is consolidating three other facility locations into the one that is being opened in Sealy and that they chose Sealy for its proximity to West Houston. Heinle, also added that the potential workforce in the area also played a factor in their selection of the Sealy area.
The City of Sealy issued a press release concerning the announcement today:
SEALY, Texas, Wednesday, July 6, 2016 -The City of Sealy is joined today with Austin County officials and other representatives to announce that SNC-Lavalin is opening a new facility in Sealy, Texas. “I am really excited about SNC-Lavalin coming to Sealy and wholeheartedly welcome them. This company has a long-standing history of excellence which I feel is a fantastic match for our community. I look forward to this being a long-term relationship between the company and the entire local area,” said Mayor Mark Stolarski. “In addition, my hat goes off to executive director Kim Meloneck of the Sealy Economic Development Corporation and city manager Larry Kuciemba, and others on city staff, for all their hard work in bringing this partnership together,” said Mayor Mark Stolarski. At peak employment, SNC-Lavalin expects the facility to have up to 250 employees. They will be locating on a portion of the property located at 5000 NW 1-10 Frontage Road.
SNC-Lavalin will employ positions for engineers, accounting, project managers, warehouse attendants, general laborers and other positions.
“We are excited about this announcement today, and the economic impact that this project will have on Sealy, Austin County and the surrounding areas,” said city manager Larry Kuciemba.
“We are certainly energized by SNC-Lavalin’s decision to locate in Sealy and we look forward to having them as part of our community,” said Kim Meloneck, executive director of the Sealy Economic Development Corporation.
SNC-Lavalin was founded in 1911, and is one of the leading engineering and construction groups in the world and a major player in the ownership of infrastructure. Their head office is located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. From offices in over 50 countries, their over 37,000 employees provide engineering, procurement construction, completion and commissioning services together with a range of sustaining capital services to clients in four industry sectors, oil and gas, mining and metallurgy, infrastructure and power. Additional information regarding SNC-Lavalin may be found on their website at www.snclavalin.com
Below is video of the announcement as well as the Q&A session that followed: