Gov. Ivey celebrates new bio-friendly addition to Alabama cement company

RAGLAND ( WIAT ) — The National Cement Company of Alabama is officially revamped. Company officials joined Governor Kay Ivey this morning for the groundbreaking of the plant’s new addition.

The Ragland cement plant’s new production line is a rotary kiln that substitutes fossil fuels with alternative fuels coming from items like recycled woodchips and shredded scrap tires. Company officials say the new addition is intended to be more energy efficient and better for the environment.

The 300 million dollar investment is now the largest in St. Clair county history.

Governor Ivey says the plant is not only providing new jobs but also keeping existing ones. This makes it one of the largest employers in the area.

“That means I continue to work hard to ensure communities like Ragland grow and thrive,” said Ivey. “And I’m looking forward to seeing your continued success here.”

Since the initial concept discussion back in 2018, project executive and manager Casey Rushing says the road to success has been challenging. Rushing says COVID-19 caused obstacles as key company leaders were spread all over the world.

Even so, Rushing says adjustments were made along the way to ensure the project’s success.

“It was a global challenge with the pandemic of COVID,” said Rushing. “It really hindered this project and made it difficult to complete, but all the teams worked together, of course, and now you can see the finished outputs of that.”

The National Cement Company of Alabama President Spencer Weitman says sixty to seventy percent of the plant’s employees are from Ragland.

Weitman says the Ragland cement plant has provided services and generations of jobs in the community for over 100 years. He believes the plant’s new addition will continue that tradition for many years to come.

“This puts us into the next 40 or 50 years,” said Weitman. ”And it’s prolonged the life of the plant to move us forward into the next entry hopefully.”