The Economic Development Authority of Western Nevada (EDAWN) announced today that Geofortis Pozzolans is opening a state of the art cementitious material, mineral processing facility in Stead.
Development of the 30,000 square foot facility is expected to commence in August with processing operations to start by April 2018. The company plans to hire more than 200 employees by end of Year 5 and will be investing upwards of $20 million in capital expenditures. Geofortis also received incentives from the Governor's Office of Economic Development.
The new Geofortis facility will have specialized milling, mixing, and handling equipment in its processing plant to produce supplementary cementitious material, including natural pozzolan blended with other products.
Natural pozzolan is formed by volcanic ash deposited over thousands of years in a fresh water lake populated by diatomaceous algae (Northern California). This material has the potential to solve many of the technical challenges facing the concrete industry that are related to concrete quality, integrity, color and greenhouse emissions.
As far back as 126 A.D., natural pozzolans were used in ancient structures like the Pantheon in Rome, Italy. Geofortis' natural pozzolan has been successfully used in projects such as the Auburn Dam, Los Melones Dam, Palos Verdes nuclear power plant and the Trans-Canada Highway.
"We're very excited to begin building and production at our Reno site and becoming part of the Nevada business community. The favorable local factors including skilled labor, favorable energy rates, and the positive business initiatives of government authorities were a major factor in choosing the area," Tim Alford, Geofortis VP Finance, said in a press release. "We see eye-to-eye with the pro-growth spirit and owe a great deal of gratitude to the folks at EDAWN, particularly Stan Thomas, and the Governor's Office of Economic Development."
Georfortis will soon commence hiring to fill positions in construction, truck drivers, equipment operators, plant managers, foremen, QA/QC, marketing/sales and administration staff.
"I'm thrilled to welcome Geofortis Pozzolans to Reno from California," Reno Mayor Hillary Schieve said in a press release. "Not only will they enjoy the great quality of life and sense of community we have here in Reno, but I think they'll really appreciate our efficient and friendly business environment."
"The demand for cement and concrete materials is expected to grow as experts are forecasting 7 percent annually to $4 billion in 2020 and regionally, the demand is at record levels. Geofortis Pozzolans is well positioned in the market to address the growing demand for its products with the addition of its new Reno facility coming online soon," Mike Kazmierski, president and CEO of EDAWN, said in a press release.
