One of Lowndes County”s newest industries is getting ready to start its motor — literally — by this summer.
“We plan to begin testing them sometime in June or July,” said Lex Lemmers, plant manager at Paccar.
He made those remarks at Tuesday”s Columbus Rotary Club meeting, held at the Columbus Country Club. He said that the company has received hundreds of applications from prospective employees.
“We are preparing to process the many applications we have received. We are not sure how many we will bring on, and where they will be,” he said.
Paccar broke ground for a new powertrain manufacturing and assembly facility in 2007, near the Golden Triangle Regional Airport, at a cost of $400 million. Paccar officials in 2007 signed a contract with the state to provide 500 jobs at the plant by 2013. The plant will construct 12.9-liter diesel engines for Peterbilt, Kenworth and DAF trucks.
Adverse economic conditions and a decrease in demand have delayed the expected opening date of the more than 400,000-square-foot Paccar engine plant, according to company officials.
Although the Lowndes County Paccar plant originally was scheduled to begin operations in late 2009, the facility likely would not open until “late in 2010,” said Alan Treasure, director of marketing at the company”s Bellevue, Wash., office.
Through most of the meeting, Lemmers gave a video presentation of the company”s history and showed the process of construction of the Columbus plant, which occupies more than 400 acres, with additional space to expand the plant”s operations.
He lauded the financial accomplishments of Paccar during his remarks.
“This marks the 71st consecutive year the company has made a net profit. This is a reflection of the many services and quality products we provide,” he said.
According to information on the company Web site, Paccar is a global technology leader in the design, manufacture and customer support of premium light-, medium- and heavy-duty trucks under the Kenworth, Peterbilt and DAF nameplates.
The company also provides customized financial services, information technology and truck parts related to its principal business. Paccar delivers its products and services to customers worldwide through an extensive dealer network of nearly 1,800 locations.
Paccar International sells the company”s products in more than 100 countries and is expanding its dealer network in Asia and throughout the world. Approximately half of Paccar”s revenues and profits are generated outside the United States.
Allen Baswell was previously a reporter for The Dispatch.
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