Concrete maker to invest

$11M in Hernando facility

Tampa Bay Business Journal

Duratek Precast Structures LLC in Brooksville has finalized plans to build a new manufacturing facility in the Hernando County Airport RailPark of US 41.

Duratek is a manufacturer of pre-cast concrete wall panels used in residential, commercial and road building projects.

The company plans to construct a 75,000 square-foot facility on a 14-acre industrial site, the Hernando County Office of Business Development said in a release. The company will invest more than $11 million in capital improvements. It has 125 employees in Florida and will add 90 additional employees at the new facility.

The new facility will incorporate state-of-the-art European technology in a highly automated production process that will enable Duratek the flexibility to manufacture a variety of precast concrete products. The products include sound wall panels for road construction, hurricane resistant housing and institutional structures including concrete school classrooms.

Construction is expected to begin in the first quarter of 2007 with the plant coming online in the fourth quarter of 2007, the release said.

In 2005, Duratek built a 10,000-square-foot corporate headquarters facility at the manufacturing site and added a corporate aircraft hanger across the street earlier this year. The company plans to fund the project using tax-exempt bonds that are available for qualified manufacturing facilities, the county economic development office said.