By Rebecca Rose
Killeen Daily Herald
A Houston-based manufacturing company is the new owner of the former Oshkosh building at the Killeen Business Park and is advertising for two locally based jobs.
On Tuesday, the Bell County Tax Appraisal District’s website listed Stewart & Stevenson as the new owners of the industrial property formerly owned by Oshkosh Truck Manufacturing. Myrtle Malone, marketing communications manager with Stewart & Stevenson in Houston, said she did not know how the Killeen facility would be used, but the company has more than 2,500 employees around the globe.
“The manufucturing is mainly oil field-related,” said Malone. “We build equipment used in the production of oil and gas.”
The Killeen Economic Development Corporation owns the business park, but local officials were unavailable for comment on the building’s new owners. Other Stewart & Stevenson officials also were unavailable for comment at press time.
In June 2010, Wisconsin-based Oshkosh closed its Killeen plant, eliminating nearly 30 jobs and leaving behind an empty 230,000-square-foot warehouse space. In 2003, the building’s appraised property value was $4.12 million.
In January, John Crutchfield, president of the Greater Killeen Chamber of Commerce, said a manufacturing firm was set to purchase the building, but declined to identify the company.
Two months ago, Stewart & Stevenson representatives participated in a job fair at Fort Hood.
On Tuesday, the company’s website listed two open positions in Killeen. One job is for a manager with manufacturing experience in oil and gas services. The other opening is a senior manufacturing position with an emphasis on operations. Salary and start dates were not listed.
Stewart & Stevenson manufactures products to support hydraulic fracturing, well stimulation, workover, intervention and drilling operations, according to its website. The company partners with several equipment manufacturers, including MTU Onsite Energy, Detroit Diesel, Electro-Motive Diesel and Allison and Hyster, to market natural gas and diesel engines, transmissions and material handling equipment.