Oklahoma Southeast - Dura-Line Plant Doubling in Size

Newsflash

IMTEC Imaging LLC will begin operation at the Ardmore Technology Transfer Center in February 2006. IMTEC Imaging is a start-up company created to produce cone beam CT (Computer Tomography) Scan equipment for dental offices, veterinary clinics, imaging centers, orthopedic centers, surgeons, and podiatrists. The company will design high quality, user-friendly, compact and cost-effective CT Scan equipment and will subcontract some of the required manufacturing. The core of the business will be a price/quality scan machine called ILUMA.

The Technology Transfer Center is a business incubator facility for technology oriented companies and is supported by the cooperative efforts of The Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation, Inc., the Southern Oklahoma Technology Center (SOTC) and the Ardmore Development Authority (ADA). Business incubators are facilities designed to accelerate the development and success of start-up and existing businesses.

IMTEC Imaging will be the first company to locate in the facility. The high technology company is a new venture of IMTEC Corporation and HYTEC Engineering Inc., Los Alamos, New Mexico. Dr. Ronald A. Bulard, Chairman of the Board of IMTEC Corporation, and a Director of IMTEC Imaging, explained the IMCAT Ultra Cone Beam CT Scanner is designed for a cranial scan, which allows the patient to sit comfortably in an open space while the x-ray source rotates around the patient’s head. “The scan takes approximately a minute to produce a multi-layered image of the patient’s lower facial area,” Bulard said. “The upright patient positioning makes scanning easy for patients and uses minimal physical space in the dental or medical professional’s office.”

IMTEC Imaging will initially start with twelve employees and is expected to increase to forty-two employees within three years. These jobs will be in training, software/technical support, assembly and installation. The company’s long-range are to:

Build and place 700 CT Scan units by year three

Hire and train employees from the local workforce

Become the global leader in dental CT Scan units

Expand globally and offer customer support that exceeds the competition

Build a manufacturing facility

“We are extremely proud of the high caliber of jobs that the company will provide, and the growth for Ardmore these jobs will create,” adds Andre Moore, ADA Chairman.

The Ardmore Technology Transfer Center was developed as a strategy to recruit and retain technology oriented companies to Ardmore. The strategy of the incubator is to leverage the resources of the economic development, research and business training organizations in Ardmore to attract technology companies. The ADA will be responsible for the recruitment of the Center, while SOTC will provide employee training and support resources to the tenants. The potential for collaborations with the Noble Foundation will also serve as an attraction to potential companies.

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Dura-Line Plant Doubling in Size

By James Beaty
Senior Editor

The Dura-Line plant in McAlester plans to increase in size from 40,000 to 80,000 square feet.
Plant Manager David Leeper said the expansion is expected to be completed within four months and will result in significant job creation over the next two-to-three years.
“It’s going to be a big opportunity” for more employees to work at the plant, which has been operating in McAlester for less than a year.
The plant manufactures conduit for the telecommunication and power industries, Leeper said.
He expected dirt work on the project to begin as early as today.
“It will take from 90 to 120 days to do the expansion,” he said.
The McAlester plant currently has 51 employees and plans on eventually adding more over the next three years until the total reaches 93, he said.
In addition to the building expansion, Leeper said the parking lot and pipe yard at the plant will be paved and a new loading dock and gravel lot will be added along with the new building.
Leeper said McAlester businessman Francis Stipe is constructing the building.
“We will lease it,” he said.
Leeper attributed the McAlester plant’s success to several factors.
“Locale is one and the work crews we have are doing an exceptional job,” he said.
“We haven’t had any customer complaints and we’ve produced close to 6,000 miles of pipe,” Leeper said. “We’re doing exceptionally well.”
Dura-Line started its McAlester operation at the Steven W. Taylor Industrial Park last July to serve the company’s customers in the Southwest.
McAlester got the nod for the new plant after considering several factors, according to the company.
Dura-Line credited the owner of the facility, AOK Railroad, the McAlester Foundation and the McAlester Economic Development Service as being instrumental in making it happen.
The cooperation Dura-Line received from the local business community proved to be a significant factor in the decision to expand the McAlester facility, instead of opening an additional location in Texas, according to Leeper.
“The McAlester plant continues to be a success story for the corporation,” Leeper said. “The credit can be given to the local government, local community and the dedicated employees of the plant.”
Anyone interested in applying to work at Dura-Line can contact Deelynn Hall at 302-0330, according to Leeper.
The Dura-Line Corp., headquartered in Knoxville, Tenn., and the Arnco Corp., based in Elyria, Ohio, were recently acquired by the Audax Corp., a Boston-based private equity company.
Both Dura-Line and Arnco manufacture and distribute extruded high-density polyethylene duct, pipe, and conduit products for the telecommunications industry, as well as for power utility, electrical and cable markets.
The new merged company will be named A-D Technologies, and both Dura-Line and Arnco will operate as divisions within the company. Robert F. Smith, the former owner and chief executive officer of Arnco and Paresh Chari, the former chief executive officer of Dura-Line, will continue to lead the combined company.
Contact James Beaty at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it