Sedalia steel plant to open in November, bring 250 high-paying jobs

More than 2,300 people applied for jobs Wednesday at a steel plant under construction in Sedalia.

More than 2,300 people have applied for jobs at a steel plant under construction in Sedalia.

More than 500 construction workers are building the $400 million Nucor steel facility north of the downtown area along Highway 65. Company officials plan to hire 250 workers with an average salary of $65,000 a year. Company officials said they have hired more than 150 people. Sedalia-Pettis County Economic Development Executive Director Jessica Craig said steel workers at the plant would use recycled scrap metal to make steel rebar. Craig said the new facility and high-paying jobs were transformative for Sedalia and surrounding communities. Some hired steelworkers will to work from as far away as Kansas City and Columbia.

“Wages to that amount are transformative, not just to Sedalia and Pettis county, but for our entire region,' Craig said. 'Nucor continues to draw their labor from about a 45 to 60-mile radius around Sedalia.”

The Nucor steel plant would be the main facility in Sedalia’s new Rail Industrial Park. A $10 million federal grant paid for the extension of existing railroad tracks to the park. The park would become one of the largest, exclusive rail-served industrial parks in the Midwest.

“We have more than 70 manufacturers and industrial-related companies here that have welcomed Nucor as well,' Craig said. 'We’re excited about this facility being launched and for those employees to call Sedalia, Pettis County and Central Missouri home.”

Craig said crews have made great progress on the construction of the new steel plant. Company officials said their new steel plant would open in November 2019.

Courtesy : krcgtv.com