NE: Ribbon-Cutting Marks Neapco Expansion in Beatrice

Neapco Components celebrated the expansion of its Beatrice operations with a ribbon-cutting ceremony. Joining Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts, were President and CEO Ken Hopkins, Neapco Holdings, LLC, from the greater Detroit area, Vice President and General Manager J.C. Stiles, Neapco Components in Beatrice, President Keith Sanford, Neapco Components, and Director Brenda Hicks-Sorensen, CEcD, Nebraska Department of Economic Development (DED).

“On behalf of our state, I join others in congratulating Neapco for 34 years of solid, dependable service and manufacturing high in-demand products. Neapco’s business investment in the city of Beatrice and outlying areas have provided wonderful jobs that allow families to enjoy our great quality of life here in Nebraska,” Gov. Ricketts said.

DED awarded the City of Beatrice $300,000 from its Site and Building Development Fund for the project, which commenced in 2014.

“We are encouraged by the continued investment by the city and state in the support of Neapco’s growth in Beatrice,” said Stiles. “We consider this to be a positive environment with benefits for Neapco and the community.”

The company invested $1.6 million in the renovation and construction of approximately 13,200 sq. ft. of internal and external office space housing 65 employees (consolidating five offices into one) and a test lab.

“DED is happy to have played a role in Neapco’s expansion here in Nebraska in 1981 and its ongoing growth during the past few decades, building upon a base of good paying jobs and helping Beatrice expand its manufacturing base,” said Hicks-Sorensen.

Neapco was the first business to locate in the Beatrice Industrial Park in 1981. A previous expansion involved the addition of a 100,000 sq.ft. building to its campus, which was dedicated in March 2011. The company manufactures CV joints and drivelines, universal joints and a complete line of driveline components. Originally the New England Auto Products Corporation of Hartford, Conn., the trademark of Neapco was adopted in 1924 and the company moved its universal joint manufacturing operations to Pottstown, Penn., a few years later. In the 1930s, the company became a key supplier of universal joints and shafts to the farm implement market. During World War II, Neapco supplied the U.S. Navy with projectiles and pin & block universal joints, becoming one of the first companies to receive the Navy “E” for excellence. During the next two decades, the company added joints and shafts and heavy-duty driveline components for over-the-highway trucks to its product line. Today, Neapco operates manufacturing and business facilities in Mexico, Poland, Germany, and China, as well as the U.S.

For information about DED’s Site and Building Development Fund, go to http://neded.org/business/talent-a-innovation-initiative/site-and-building-development-fund