Cement distibutor to create three to six jobs in Elida

A cement distribution facility expected to employ three to six local residents is moving to Elida.

The terminal is to distribute bulk cement products around eastern New Mexico and west Texas for GCC America Inc., a subsidiary of cement company Grupo Cementos de Chihuahua, according to a news release from the Roosevelt County Community Development Corporation. The facility is on the north side of the railroad tracks, near the grain elevator.

“It’ll generate a few jobs and increase our tax base also,” said Elida Mayor Durward Dixon.

Dixon said the town was glad to be getting a company from out of town, because they are trying to rebuild after losing several businesses in the past four to five years.

GCC Market Manager Rick Percival said preparations were under way and he hoped operations would begin in the next two to three weeks. While the facility will operate with current GCC employees at first, he said, Percival expected to look for local employees within the next month.

The facility would most likely have two or three permanent workers and two or three seasonal employees from the area, he said.

“We won’t really know that (employee number) until we know what kind of volumes are going to run through there,” Percival said, adding that the volumes depend on demand.

Also, he expects to work with trucking companies in the region to distribute the products after they come to Elida by railroad.

Percival named the available workforce and the ease of doing business with the town of Elida, local people and RCCDC Executive Director Greg Fisher as reasons for setting up shop in Elida. The move to put a distribution facility in the region was aimed at providing better service to customers in the area, he said.

Fisher had been working with GCC for almost a year, according to the news release.

“We are honored that GCC chose Elida and Roosevelt County as their new distribution center for eastern New Mexico and west Texas,” Fisher said in the release. “This business location was achieved through a fine team effort including the Town of Elida, Roosevelt County, Southwest Railroad and (State) Sen. Stuart Ingle, who at the end of the day really stepped in to make this project possible here.”

Ingle helped with New Mexico Environment Department permits, Fisher said.