By Jerry Underwood Made in Alabama

Alabama Commerce Secretary Greg Canfield announced that O’Neal Manufacturing Services (OMS) plans to invest $5.5 million to open a 130,000-square-foot steel fabrication facility in Fayette as part of a project that will create 70 full-time jobs within three years after operations begin.

OMS provides quality carbon steel and aluminum parts for customers that manufacture equipment for construction, agriculture, materials handling, transportation and other industries.

The company’s custom steel fabrication center in Fayette will feature robotic and manual welding stations, a beam-cutting line, paint booth, press brakes, plasma cutting and saw-cutting capabilities to support medium- to heavy-gauge steel fabrication.

“O’Neal Manufacturing Services’ investment will bring advanced capabilities to its new fabrication facility in Fayette,” Canfield said. “This is a positive development for the community not only in terms of job creation but also for growth potential in the future.”

OMS is a subsidiary of Birmingham-based O’Neal Industries, the nation’s largest family-owned network of metal service centers and component and tube manufacturing businesses.

The new Fayette facility, occupying a previously existing building, brings the company’s total North American locations to 10.

“We are thrilled to have acquired the facility, and we are even more excited to have the skilled workers that were available in Fayette. People have always been our most valuable asset,” OMS President and CEO Kent Brown said. “In this time of unprecedented low unemployment and worker shortages across the country, good people have become even more valuable.

“We are grateful to the city of Fayette, Fayette County, our state and the Economic Development Alliance for working diligently alongside us to make this new location a reality,” he said.

Fayette Mayor Rod Northam welcomed the OMS growth plans for the small town in rural northwest Alabama.

“With over a 100-year presence in Alabama, we are happy to welcome them to Fayette and build upon this proud legacy. We look forward to supporting their growth and appreciate their investment in our city and in our citizens,” Northam said.

Fayette has been on a roll lately, attracting several industrial projects and new investment in its downtown. More than 30% of workers in the northwest Alabama region are employed at manufacturing facilities, according to the Northwest Alabama Economic Development Alliance.

“We are excited and grateful that O’Neal Manufacturing Services has chosen Fayette for this investment,” said Tom Wisemiller, president and CEO of Northwest Alabama EDA. “OMS is an outstanding company and employer, with a strong track record of partnering with local communities.”

Brenda Tuck, Rural Development manager for the Alabama Department of Commerce, said the new OMS venture will benefit from a motivated workforce in Fayette.

“Alabama’s rural communities can offer companies like OMS many strategic advantages, as well as an environment that allows companies to pursue ambitious goals,” Tuck said.

“The business world is discovering that rural Alabama has it all.”

This story originally appeared on the Alabama Department of Commerce’s Made in Alabama website.

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