Workers put the finishing touches on the assembly of a 50-ton crane recently acquired by Stinger Welding for its Libby plant.
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Stinger Welding employees work on girders for a bridge destined for Seattle.
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Stinger moving forward
Crane arrives to help bridge builders load, unload trains
by Kootenai Valley Record
August 8, 2010
Stinger Welding’s Libby operations got a boost last week with the acquisition of a 50-ton gantry crane.
Previously used by a company building a bridge at Hoover Dam, the crane will be used by Stinger to unload steel from rail cars and to load finished girders onto trains for shipping.
Around 30 people are employed by Stinger in Libby. They are currently working on girders for the Spokane Street viaduct in Seattle, Wash. The girders will be pre-assembled in Libby, then disassembled for shipping and put back together in Seattle.
The Libby facility’s next project will be a pedestrian bridge destined for Pablo.
Stinger employs around 200 people in Coolidge, Ariz., and plans to put a similar number to work in Libby within the next four years. Additional workers will be hired following completion of a permanent building for Stinger at the Kootenai Business Park, scheduled for the end of this year. Stinger’s local operations are currently housed in and around the old central maintenance building at the business park.
Funding for the project includes a short-term $3.4 million loan from Lincoln County that was approved by the county commissioners in April to break a deadlock brought on by financing difficulties. The loan was originally planned to have come from Glacier Bank, but the plan was derailed when Stinger’s bank in Arizona balked at the deal. Lincoln County Commissioner John Konzen attributed the difficulties to changes in the financial market since the funding package was first put together.
Additional funding includes $3.2 million from an insurance settlement the industrial district received following the collapse of the former plywood plant roof under a heavy snow load, an $800,000 Community Development Block Grant, and a $400,000 grant from the Big Sky Trust Fund.
Once construction is completed and Stinger moves into the building, the county’s investment will be reimbursed with a loan from the Montana Board of Investments. Stinger will lease the building with the lease payments going to pay off the loan.
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Editor’s Note: See the August 3, 2010 edition of the Kootenai Valley Record for the printed version of this story. The Kootenai Valley Record publishes once a week, on Tuesdays, in Libby, Montana. They are a locally owned community newspaper, located at 403 Mineral Avenue in Libby. For in-county and out-of-county subscription information, call 406-293-2424, or e-mail kvrecord@gmail.com.
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