Southwest Market Region Expects More Than $1 Billion in September Project Starts

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--The U.S. Southwest region, which includes the states of Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas and Oklahoma, is set to kick off more than $1.2 billion of industrial projects during September. While, as usual, the Power Industry, which has $296 million in planned September project starts, leads other industrial sectors, the Food & Beverage Industry, with $275 million in planned project starts, and the Industrial Manufacturing Industry, with $253 million in planned projects, are making significant starts in the Southwest region in September.

Click on image at right for a breakdown by industry of project starts in the U.S. Southwest market region during the month of September.

One of the largest projects to kick off in the region during September is Caterpillar Incorporated's (NYSE:CAT) (Peoria, Illinois) grassroot construction of a hydraulic excavator manufacturing plant in Victoria, Texas. The 600,000-square-foot plant will triple Caterpillar's U.S. hydraulic excavator production. The company is also currently under way with construction on a 75,000-square-foot hammer-manufacturing plant in Waco, Texas, which is scheduled for completion later this year. For additional details, see April 10, 2010, article - Caterpillar Incorporated Begins Construction on $30 Million Manufacturing Plant in Texas.

Recently updated in Industrial Info's North American Database is the $45 million chiller plant addition at the University of Houston. The project involves the construction of a 10,000-square-foot building addition and the installation of three 2,500-ton chillers and three new boilers. A new concrete shell-cooling tower will also be erected. Construction is scheduled to begin to this month. In 2010, spending on university infrastructure construction projects has increased dramatically from 2008 and 2009 levels. For details, see August 31, 2010, article - Infrastructure Spending at Universities Begins Recovery from Sluggish Economy.

Of the 10 highest-value September project kickoffs in the region, four projects are for the Food & Beverage Industry. These include two grassroot food distribution centers, each valued at approximately $60 million, in Texas and Louisiana. Sysco Corporation (NYSE:SYY) (Houston, Texas) plans to commence construction of a distribution center in Schertz, Texas, as described in August 24, 2010, article - Food Distributor to Consolidate Central Texas Operations. Associated Wholesale Grocers Incorporated (Kansas City, Kansas) plans to begin construction a new food distribution center in Pearl River, Louisiana.

Information on these and more than $28 billion of projects scheduled to kick off in North America this month can be found in Industrial Info's North American Industrial Database.

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