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Orthman Conveying Systems President/COO Jimmy Rios, right, visits with Cleburne Economic Development Foundation Executive Director Jerry Cash, left, and Pinnacle Bank Branch President Amber Witte.

Cleburne Chamber of Commerce members, ambassadors and other community members join Orthman Conveying Systems employees to cut the ribbon celebrating the grand opening of their Cleburne factory.

Orthman Conveying Systems President/COO Jimmy Rios, right, visits with Cleburne Economic Development Foundation Executive Director Jerry Cash, left, and Pinnacle Bank Branch President Amber Witte.

Cleburne Chamber of Commerce members, ambassadors and other community members join Orthman Conveying Systems employees to cut the ribbon celebrating the grand opening of their Cleburne factory.

Braving Thursday’s heat to cut the ribbon on their grand Cleburne location opening were Orthman Conveying Systems officials and employees joined by members of the Cleburne Chamber of Commerce,  Cleburne and Johnson County officials and leaders as well as team members from the nearby Cleburne Walmart Distribution Center and other area corporate partners. 

The Lexington, Nebraska based company designs, engineers and constructs conveyors and other equipment, parts and equipment they sell to John Deere and other major manufacturers.

Looking to expand, the company purchased the former GE Oil and Gas 6 acre property at 650 W. Industrial Blvd. In 2020.

“We’re really excited about today and thrilled to be here, Orthman COO Jimmy Rios said.

Also on hand was Orthman Manufacturing President John McCoy, who spoke of the company’s community outreach.

“On behalf of the McCoy family, we’re thrilled to be in Cleburne, Texas,” McCoy said. “We’re looking forward to becoming part of the community and making you as proud of us as we are of you.

“As you get to know us you’ll come to know that we invest in the community highly. And you’ll see that over time as we get operational.”

McCoy called the expansion into Cleburne a labor of love.

“This project started in conversations with Jimmy and I about four years ago,” McCoy said. “We really got active in it about three years ago. We got the site located, purchased and then we were off and running.”

McCoy thanked Cleburne Economic Development Foundation Executive Director Jerry Cash, members of the Cleburne Chamber of Commerce and other city and county officials for their parts in helping the project become a reality.

“We have $11 million investment in this facility,” McCoy said. “Which is our single largest investment for our conveyance system group.”

The timing and location are perfect, McCoy said, name checking Martin Sprocket and Gear, Thomas Conveyor Company and other area companies in the conveyor industry.

“We think it’s important for this time in our company’s life cycle to be here as well as being located in really the hub of the conveying industry or conveying alley as we reference it,” McCoy said.

With that, Cleburne chamber ambassadors presented plaques to McCoy and Rios and all joined in to cut the red ribbon stretching across the plant’s main entrance. Attendees then toured the plant to get an up-close look at the manufacturing process.

“They should be a great corporate partner and a great addition to Cleburne,” Cash said. “They actually added on to the building they bought. It was about 20,000 square feet originally and they’ve added more than 30,000 square feet of space to that.”

Cleburne Economic Development Director Grady Easdon agreed.

“They’re already up to 50 employees or so from what I understand and pay wages above average so that’s a good boost to the Cleburne and Johnson County economies,” Easdon said. “They made a point this morning of saying how they get involved in the community. I’ve already seen them at several chamber events and it looks like they’re going to be a good community partner for sure.”

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