COLUMBIANA Co., Ohio (WKBN) – Steelcon in Columbiana County has announced that they will be expanding their facilities by around 50,000 square feet. Congressman Bill Johnson was on site on Thursday to learn about these plans.

In their 20-plus years of business, Steelcon has expanded their local services internationally to Germany and Canada.

“An aerospace company out of Canada that we are partnering with for some of their proprietary rocket launches. They do this off of high-altitude balloons,” said Allen Hodge, owner of Steelcon.

As the business grows, Steelcon is investing around $4 million into their expansion.

Hodge says the new facility will house even more equipment to help them keep up with demand.

“We’ll probably have 10 overhead cranes in the addition. We’re buying a robotic weld station,” Hodge said.

The expansion also means more job opportunities. Steelcon’s facility currently has around 50 employees, with 10 additional openings. Once the expansion is completed, the facility will have 20 to 30 more openings.

“We have openings for engineers, processors, machinists, welders, assemblers and some laborers,” Hodge said.

Congressman Johnson says expansions like the one happening at Steelcon will allow for more domestic manufacturing, which he believes is more reliable.

“We should never outsource more than what we need to sustain our own culture here in America. I believe that. Making it in America, building it in America,” Johnson said.

Johnson says innovation like Steelcon’s has allowed for faster and more efficient steel manufacturing in the United States.

“The steel industry is vitally important in America. I mean, you don’t build buildings without it, you don’t build bridges and highways. You’ve gotta have steel to manufacture in America,” he said.

Hodge says as they increase output, finding sufficient labor is extremely important.