ENID, Okla. — Bri-Steel Manufacturing of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, has purchased the former GEFCO facility on South Van Buren in Enid with plans to produce seamless pipes.
The 329,000-square-foot facility sits on 43 acres, and has enough infrastructure for potential expansion of facilities. Bri-Steel President Neil Rasmussen said there will be 60-100 people employed at the facility, which should be up and running this year.
“We’re getting ready to start some renovations on the inside, got some equipment on order, and by this fall we should be ready to hire some people and start production in the fourth quarter this year,” Rasmussen said.
Once renovations are complete, the plant will produce seamless pipes ranging from 12 inches to 36 inches, with wall thickness and up to 3 inches. It also will make carbon steel and alloy steel pipes. According to a press release, the company has plans to explore higher-yield piping in the future. The release states will apply to expand its American Petroleum Institute Monogram program to the Enid area.
“Because the GEFCO building is so large, there’s room for growth beyond that,” Rasmussen said. “If things keep going the way they’ve been going, things become limitless from there … more equipment, more people and we can grow the business further. That’s the really exciting part about it.”
Rasmussen said in Canada where the first Bri-Steel plant is located, there are limitations on space, power availability, and labor is not as easily accessible. He said over the past few years, he toured some locations and determined Enid was the best fit for expansion.
“To grow had to mean to get another place. We’re in a position now that we had so much backlog, and getting so much work that it was time to add a second facility. So we chose Enid, and we’re pretty excited about Enid,” he said.
“It gives us a U.S. presence, which we didn’t have before as just a Canadian company. It gives us the option to double our current capacity. Because of the great infrastructure of that building, we can see it grow, increase our product offerings, increase our size range or decrease our size range. And it’s also closer to our core market, which is the Gulf Coast and then the Midwest up here.”
Article by: Tanner Holubar, Enid News & Eagle 1.23.23