BOTETOURT COUNTY (WSLS 10) - On Wednesday, Canatal Steel USA, Inc. announced that it will expand its Botetourt County plant, creating 38 new jobs.
The company also plans to invest $1.5 million in new equipment to meet increased demand for manufactured structural steel for construction. The new jobs will primarily be for welders and fitters.
Staff at the Roanoke Regional Partnership said Wednesday's announcement  is another sign employment is growing in the Roanoke region.
"2016 has been a great year for the Roanoke region in terms of attracting business investment and new jobs," says Beth Doughty, Executive Director of the Roanoke Regional Partnership. "I think there were about 1500 total new jobs created from 2015 to 2016."
Canatal Steel USA says that its interested in working with Botetourt County Public Schools to establish an apprentice program for welding students at the Botetourt Technical Education Center (B-Tech) in Fincastle, which recently earned accreditation from the American Welding Society.
"The Roanoke Valley is strategically located for our growing market and there is good quality labor for fabrication and assembly of structural steel," said Canatal Industries President Ralph Poulin. "Also, transport costs are greatly reduced for our projects in DC, South Carolina and North Carolina, which will make Canatal more competitive in obtaining contracts."
The Roanoke Regional Partnership recruited Canatal to Botetourt County in 2010.
This is the fifth jobs announcement in Botetourt County in 2016 following on the heels of Arkay Packaging (60 jobs), Virginia Community College System (200 jobs), ELDOR Corporation (350) and Ballast Point Brewing & Spirits (178 jobs), for a total of 826 new jobs announced in Botetourt County in 2016, according to Botetourt County and the Roanoke Regional Partnership