VCEDA closed on a $1.4 million loan to AMR Pemco today in Bluefield, Va. VCEDA Executive Director/General Counsel Jonathan Belcher, center, presented the ceremonial check to AMR Pemco President David Graf, second from right. Also pictured are, from left, Curtis Gillespie, Tazewell County Industrial Development Authority; Pam Warden, Tazewell County Economic Development Manager; and far right, Maggie Asbury, VCEDA Board Member and Tazewell County Board of Supervisors Chairperson.
BLUEFIELD, VA – November 15, 2018 — A $1.4 million loan to AMR Pemco in Tazewell County to be used toward a planned expansion at the Bluefield, Va., facility was closed Thursday by the Virginia Coalfield Economic Development Authority (VCEDA).
Proceeds from the loan will be used to finance the purchase of equipment and building improvements at the plant. AMR Pemco manufactures ground check/fault monitors, electronic circuit breakers, speed sensors and tip switches, atmospheric (gas) monitors, wireless communications, personnel/equipment tracking, collision avoidance systems, power centers, substations, dry-type transformers, industrial control buildings and power distribution/PLC panels.
The company was founded in 1960, and was acquired in November 2016 by American Mine Research, Inc. (AMR) of Rocky Gap, Va. AMR was founded in 1975 by Robert (Bob) Graf, and in addition to Pemco, has other affiliated companies including East River Metals, Inc. (Bland County, Va.) and Custom Manufacturing Services, Inc. (Princeton, WV).
“We are pleased to assist AMR Pemco in their planned expansion project,” said VCEDA Executive Director/General Counsel Jonathan Belcher. “VCEDA has a long history of working with the company which has provided good jobs in our region for decades. This expansion by one of the region’s major manufacturing companies will be a significant boost economically to our area.”
“Through this growth plan, we hope to add 75 jobs in the next several years,” said David Graf, president of AMR Pemco. “These jobs will be a mixture of engineers, test technicians, welders, electrical assemblers and metal fabrication machine operators.”
A new fiber laser cutting machine, an expansion of the facility’s wash booth and wet paint booth/oven setup and the addition of a new powder paint booth are among the expansions planned at the facility.
“We are diligently diversifying our revenue streams,” Graf said. “We are still in coal, but we are also getting into hard rock mining, natural gas, transit and utility markets.”
About Virginia Coalfield Economic Development Authority and Virginia’s e-Region: The Virginia Coalfield Economic Development Authority, created by the Virginia General Assembly in 1988 to enhance and diversify the region’s economy and help create jobs, markets Virginia’s e-Region and its focus on electronic information technology, energy, education, emerging technologies, and entrepreneurship. VCEDA is a unique economic development organization that manages funds for economic development projects from a percentage of the coal and natural gas severance taxes paid by coal and natural gas companies that operate in the region. Located in southwestern Virginia, the region includes Buchanan, Dickenson, Lee, Russell, Scott, Tazewell, and Wise counties and the City of Norton. www.vceda.us or www.e-Region.org.