K&B Machine Works, doing business as K&B Industries, announced it is expanding its advanced manufacturing division by establishing a new production base at a recently acquired facility in Terrebonne Parish, southwest of New Orleans.
The $12 million investment will allow the company to increase production and better serve the state’s growing aerospace and semiconductor manufacturing equipment markets.
The company expects to create 70 new direct jobs, while retaining 350 current positions. Louisiana Economic Development estimates the project will result in 78 indirect jobs, for a total of 148 new jobs in the Bayou Region.
“This commitment by K&B Industries signals the ongoing economic recovery of the Bayou Region and illustrates the strength and diversity of Louisiana’s manufacturing and aerospace sectors, which I have worked hard this week to strengthen while meeting with companies around the Paris Air Show,” Gov. John Bel Edwards said. “Manufacturing investments have a powerful ripple effect on the economic health of our rural communities. Thank you to K&B Industries for doubling down on Terrebonne Parish and the area’s skilled and resilient workforce.”
The new location will house surface enhancement equipment and an expanded clean room for assembly and testing, precision cleaning and anodizing of equipment used to manufacture semiconductors. The recently acquired facility on Equity Boulevard near Houma will also include space for additional automated machine solutions to maximize efficiency.
“K&B Industries has always pursued the latest technologies regardless of the markets we serve, and our diversification into the aerospace and semiconductor markets has allowed us to build a skill set that did not exist in the area before,” K&B Industries President Kenny Wood, Jr. said. “Our investment in our people has led us to establish a variety of training programs to help grow from within to meet the complex demands of manufacturing, quality, assembly, test and processing of rigorous aerospace and semiconductor industry standards.”
K&B Industries began operations in the Bayou Region in 1974. Since then, it has grown into a leading supplier of premium threading, manufacturing and engineering services for the aerospace and oil and gas industries.
The company estimates its upgrades to the 118,000 square foot facility will be complete this summer. The installation of a precision chemical cleaning line for semiconductor manufacturing equipment production is expected in September, and full operations are projected to commence before the end of the year.
“K&B Industries is one of the top-rated companies to work for and an exceptional community partner in Terrebonne Parish,” Terrebonne Economic Development Authority CEO Cohen Guidry said. “The company has been providing superior services to the energy industry for nearly 50 years and this latest expansion will allow them to offer services never befor e available in the state of Louisiana.”
To secure the project, the state of Louisiana offered K&B Industries a competitive incentives package including a performance-based $480,000 retention and modernization tax credit subject to the achievement of payroll and investment targets. The company is also expected to participate in the state’s Industrial Tax Exemption and Quality Jobs programs.
