Norfolk Iron & Metal has almost finished its expansion. If only the weather would cooperate.
The $2.2 million addition to Norfolk’s warehousing space only has a few small things left to do on the inside, plus the addition of a rail spur. It could all be done by the end of the month, general manager Jeff Bessmer said, if the weather stays dry.
But of course it hasn’t.
“Every time we do that, it rains,” Bessmer said. “We’re about a month behind where we should be.”
If the skies keep opening up, it could delay the spur even further. No clear skies, no railway work. But one way or the other, the work will eventually get done.
Norfolk announced the expansion last August. Once complete, it will take the company from 156,000 square feet to 230,000 square feet and add 30 jobs to the workforce. Bessmer said the company is already working on hiring those additional employees.
Norfolk is a warehouser and distributor that supplies steel to manufacturers, who then turn it into finished goods. Most of the jobs added will be in the warehouse, but a few others, such as drivers and office staff, will be part of the growth as well.
A deal with the Emporia City Commission gives Norfolk a 10-year tax break on the real estate, $360,000 in four payments, and the 13 acres south of the plant.
Norfolk now employs 149 people. the Nebraska-based company came to Emporia in 2001.
Right now, Bessmer said, the company almost has more business than it can handle.
“At one point, we had 31 rail cars of steel in town,” Bessmer said.