The Texas constitutional amendment Proposition 7 that was passed in November 2015 to dedicate more funding toward the State Highway Fund will hopefully impact Victoria’s Caterpillar plant production, Art Strother said.
“If you want to, thank people in Texas for prop 7 that was passed in November,” Strother said. “That’s very big for us. We do think that construction will be coming in 2018. We’re hoping to see some good business for that.”
Anytime there is heavy construction on roadways an excavator, a machine used for removing soil from the ground, is needed, said Randy Vivian, chamber president. Caterpillar in Victoria makes most of the excavators used in the U.S., Strother said.
“The more money that is spent on our roadways, the more equipment we’ll need, and so Caterpillar will benefit from that, which will then help the Victoria economy,” Vivian said.
Plant operations at Caterpillar Victoria, TX location.
Caterpillar is also working to start shipping 10 percent of its product to Europe next year. Caterpillar sells most of its products in the U.S. and 15 percent to Canada, Strother said.
“Were actually starting to expand some of our product line and start to ship outside the U.S.,” Strother said. “We’re actually really excited about that. It helps with business, and it helps create more demand and hopefully more opportunity for growth.”
Caterpillar is also moving their Prentice Forestry operations from the Wisconsin facility to the Victoria, TX plant and will start manufacturing in the first quarter of next year, Strother said.
