January 2018 - Domestic and international manufacturers invested in new capacity in the region over the past year. A Japanese casting company started up a foundry in Idaho Falls and a recreational vehicle builder is expanding in Twin Falls, Idaho. A Canadian miner plans to establish a cobalt mining operation in Salmon, Idaho, including a hydro-metallurgical refining facility 188 miles away in Blackfoot, Idaho. SunPower Corp. started construction on a 56-megawatt solar power plant in Crook County, Oregon. Bridger Steel Inc., which makes panel systems for roofing, siding and interior applications, is expanding with a new plant at the Port of Kalama, Washington. It will open this summer.
Aerospace companies, including Boeing Co. and Ball Corp., provided rosy forecasts for their activities in 2018. Boeing “anticipates diverse markets and participants will continue the upward trend in availability of efficient financing for record new aircraft deliveries in the next year,” the company forecast on Dec. 7. “The aircraft market is a growth business with stable returns,” said Tim Myers, president of Boeing Capital Corp.
Ball Aerospace was selected by the U.S. Air Force's Space and Missile Systems Center to deliver an environmental satellite system. The contract will provide for system design and risk reduction of a Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite plus options to fabricate two LEO satellite, among other related tasks. Hexcel Corp., a producer of composite materials for commercial aerospace, defense and outer space, also forecast strong sales and earnings for fiscal 2018.
