The build-out for Caterpillar Inc.'s manufacturing plant in Winston-Salem shifts into low gear June 3 with an information seminar for potential suppliers.
The event will be held from 8 to 10:30 a.m. at the West campus of Forsyth Technical Community College, 1300 Bolton St. It will be conducted by the Small Business Center of Forsyth Tech and the Winston-Salem Chamber of Commerce.
Caterpillar will make axles for large mining trucks at the $426 million plant. When at full production, it will have a workforce of 392 full-time and 118 contract workers.
The supplier seminar, similar to the one held for Dell Inc. in 2005, will provide general information on how to do business with Caterpillar. Registration is required.
It is geared toward suppliers and vendors in North Carolina that can provide products or services in categories including pump and motor repair, lifting device design and repair, electricians, engineering firms, landscaping and janitorial services. Caterpillar provided the supplier categories to Forsyth Tech.
"Caterpillar is definitely coming, and this event is certainly proof of that," said Nell Perry, the coordinator of the Small Business Center.
"Caterpillar has expressed a desire to use local business suppliers and vendors as possible. We want to let suppliers know what to expect in terms of pricing and business policies."
Perry said each company is limited to two representatives. The goal is having at least 50 companies at the seminar.
When Caterpillar held the groundbreaking on the 850,000-square-foot plant in November, officials said they expected to begin production in late 2011 or early 2012.
Officials with Gray Construction of Lexington, Ky., the general contractor, could not be reached for a construction update.
Robert Leak Jr., the president of Winston-Salem Business Inc., said Caterpillar has indicated that construction is on schedule.
"The schedule is for Caterpillar to begin occupying the offices in late summer/early fall and then moving into the main building in the fourth quarter of 2011 and the first quarter of 2012," Leak said.
The main reason for the plant is helping ease a customer backlog for its new-generation machinery that is more than a year-deep. The plant is part of a $1 billion expansion effort. That backlog, along with surging global need for raw materials, has persuaded Caterpillar to increase production capacity for the mining trucks by as much as 40 percent by 2014.
Potential Caterpillar job applicants are getting antsy about hiring updates, particularly considering the 10 percent jobless rate in the Triad in March.
As of Friday, the company did not have any job listings for Winston-Salem at its www.jointeamcaterpillar.com. Applicants must register on the website before being allowed to search for openings.
Gary Green, the president of Forsyth Tech, said the college will begin assessing job seekers in June. Most openings initially will be for contract jobs. He said members of the Caterpillar leadership team are in the process of moving to the community.
"The primary time for skill assessment, pre-employment and post-hiring training will begin in late summer," Green said. "These employees will likely go to work in the plant in the fourth quarter."
Green said Forsyth Tech not only will use space on the West campus but also lease a building in the Kernersville area for a temporary training center expected to open in October. He said the college has received grant money from the Golden Leaf Foundation and Duke Energy for equipment or employee training.
"We're developing a capacity within the college for advance machinery that will go beyond Caterpillar's needs," Green said.
Hans Haefeli, the vice president of advance components and systems division for Caterpillar, said in November that the company is looking for two key skill sets — machinists who can handle the massive components and those with assembly skills.
"Given that it will take a good amount of 2011 to install machinery, and we want to be up and running by the end of 2011, it is almost certain that some employees will spend training time in Decatur (Ill.), and there will be some Decatur people going to Winston-Salem," Haefeli said.
Green said that while the main goal is helping train the first wave of Caterpillar hires, he expects the college will have a long-term training relationship with the company.
"We expect what we'll learn with Caterpillar will have ripple effects throughout our advance manufacturing system," Green said.
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