In a move certain to bring an influx of jobs to Superior's manufacturing industry, Exodus Machines has formed an alliance with Caterpillar Inc. to manufacture material handling machines for Caterpillar's global network.
The alliance will expand system operations in Exodus's workforce, which currently operates with about 55 employees.
According to Greg Bacon, vice president of sales, service and marketing at Exodus, that number will rise by more than 300 in the next three years. Open positions may become available as soon as the end of the month.
"You'll see a pretty steady increase starting now," said Bacon of employment additions. "We're starting some of the soil sampling and prep work to start the expansion process. Once the expansion is in place, jobs won't be open all at once -- it'll be a gradual increase."
While Caterpillar already has a sales force in place and will be focusing on the sales and marketing aspect of the alliance, Exodus will be responsible for the manufacturing and production end.
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"We'll be adding some [positions] on the administrative side, but the bulk of them will be on the manufacturing side," said Bacon. The company may add a few key members, such as accountants, to their office staff, but Bacon expects the majority of added positions to be for welders, machinists, burn table operators and assemblers.
"I think assemblers will probably be No. 1," said Bacon, adding that the best way to keep updated on available positions is by visiting the company's website.
Caterpillar, headquartered in Peoria, Ill., is the world's leading manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines and diesel-electric locomotives. They hadn't carried a line of 30-ton or larger equipment and saw that Exodus offered high-quality machines to fill the gap in their product lines.
"We feel they have a very innovative product, a purpose-built product -- very efficient, durable, reliable. We think that by taking their product development innovations and combining it with Caterpillar's services and support reach that we really will have an offering out to our customers," said Jody Howard, general manager of Caterpillar's Industrial and Waste Group.
With the upcoming alliance-driven boom in production and creation of 300 jobs, Exodus may face challenges when trying to fill the essential positions they will eventually need.
Bacon said he was aware of other manufacturing businesses in the area already facing problem in workforce capacity, so he does have some concerns.
"Especially as the economy improves, we'll have find ways to attract them either from outside the area or away from other firms," said Bacon, who will also consider finding potential employees from the pool of local college programs.
Bacon said he is looking forward to the expansion and the benefits it will bring to Superior.
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"We're really happy to supply an industrial base to this community -- 99 percent of what we sell. The revenue that we get in is all fresh, new money to the economy in addition to the specific jobs we're creating. It'll be good for the community and good for us."
