Growing again

During the recession the east Carson City community of Mound House and neighboring Dayton in Lyon County were among the hardest hit areas in the northern Nevada region.

But that may be changing, albeit at a slow pace, as small manufacturing firms are moving into the communities.

Case in point, WEBstaurant Store, Inc. an online seller of restaurant equipment and supplies headquartered in Lancaster, Pa., is adding 185,000 square feet to its existing distribution center off of Airport Boulevard in Dayton. The company opened its distribution center at an existing 170,000-square-foot center in 2013 to augment its West Coast operations.

Miles Construction based out of Mound House is the general contractor on the project. Cary Richardson, vice president, business operations for Miles said the company needed the expansion to keep up with growth.

“It’s gotta be the largest project going on in Lyon County in a long, long time.” Richardson said.

According to Richardson, another company, Cosmetic Enterprises, Ltd., has an agreement to move into the building that once housed sunglass maker Oakley Inc., in Dayton.

Miles Construction is just beginning plans to renovate the facility for Cosmetic, which manufactures and distributes cosmetic and pharmaceutical products based in Southern California. The former Oakley building had been vacant since 2012.

Richardson said the WEBstaurant project should be completed by the end of 2016 while the Cosmetic Enterprises project tentatively will be finished by summer of 2017.

WEBstaurant didn’t immediately respond to email interview inquiries. Cosmetic responded and will employ 30 at its center will more details in next week’s edition.

There’s optimism that more manufacturing companies are on the horizon.

Richardson thinks prospective companies looking at northern Nevada find Mound House and Dayton attractive because available industrial space is beginning to become scarce.

“One thing we’re seeing in the whole region is a limited amount of options for facilities,” Richardson said.

He adds that often the smaller manufacturers prefer the remote locations so they won’t be in direct competition for workforce with the big boys that are or will be occupying the vast TRIC and North Valleys developments.

For Miles Construction, which has been a staple in the Mound House community for the last 30 years and that had a vested interest in its development, new manufacturing companies are a welcomed sight for the communities that have struggled for a few years now. But Richardson admits the recovery is at a slow pace.

“It’s a unique area that’s friendly to manufacturing companies that other places may not want around,” Richardson said. “You can put up a steel building without a whole bunch of landscaping and have things in your yard. We haven’t yet seen that aspect of the economic recovery coming back to Mound House yet, though.”