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“The Nation’s Best Read Construction Newspaper… Founded 1957.” October 17, 2012 • Vol. XXV • No. 21 • 470 Maryland Drive • Ft. Washington, PA 19034 • 215-885-2900 • Toll Free 800-523-2200 • Fax 215-885-2910 • www.constructionequipmentguide.com
Inside
John Deere, Hitachi Adds Jobs in N.C. By Emery P. Dalesio
Linder Holds Inaugural Oktoberfest in S.C. …8
AP BUSINESS WRITER
In the age of shopping malls, strip malls and online shopping we still crave the human interaction derived from shopping in an open market. Think about most places where people go to recreate, they are typically filled with other people looking to be where “things are happening.” This urge goes back to our earliest times on the planet. The city of Rock Hill, S.C., has picked up on that idea and has decided that encouraging sales of local goods and produce benefits just about everyone. So Rock Hill has put its money where it would do the most good in encouraging local producers to keep doing what they do so well. Rock Hill has made an investment of $552,000 in a market square in the heart of the city. The plan for this development will feature a parking lot in the middle of the site and then on each side there will be covered spaces for vendors. This development will be called the “Old Towne Market.” Leitner Construction, a local Rock Hill contractor, did the demolition work and assembled the new
KERNERSVILLE, N.C. (AP) A partnership between two behemoth builders of excavating machinery said Oct. 5 it plans to add 340 jobs at a Forsyth County plant in return for incentives of more than $5 million. Deere-Hitachi Construction Machinery Corp. said it will expand its Kernersville plant that now employs more than 700. The plant is a part of a 24-year partnership Hitachi Tokyo-based between Construction Machinery and Moline, Ill.based Deere & Co. to manufacture both Hitachi and Deere brand excavators. The expansion will allow DeereHitachi to increase production of excavators for the mining and construction industries, the company said. State and local governments have promised Deere-Hitachi tax breaks and other incentives worth more than $5 million if the company adds the jobs within four years and sustains them for nine years. The jobs will pay an average of about $42,102 plus benefits, $486 less than the average Forsyth County wage.
see MARKET page 60
see JOBS page 70
The plan for this development will feature a parking lot in the middle of the site and then on each side there will be covered spaces for vendors. This development will be called the “Old Towne Market.”
Cr aneFest Draws V isitors From Around the Globe…20
City Creates Space for Market By Peter Hildebrandt CEG CORRESPONDENT
Ritch ie Bros. Holds Huge Grand Op ening S ale…66
Table of Contents ................4 Truck & Trailer Section ........ ......................................32-34 Recycling Section ........37-47 Attachment Section ....49-52 Parts Section ................53-54 Business Calendar ............54 Auction Section ..........64-73 Advertisers Index ..............74
Key Construction Material Prices Increase The cost of key construction materials increased in August and year-to-year, resuming a trend that has forced contractors to pay more for materials even as competitive pressures restrain prices for finished projects, according to an analysis of federal figures released today by the Associated General Contractors of America.
“After years of depressed construction activity, the last thing contractors need is to see materials price increases further erode their already slim margins,” said Stephen E. Sandherr, the association’s chief executive officer. “This isn’t the kind of economic recovery most contractors spent the past few years praying for.”
The producer price index for inputs to construction — covering materials that go into every type of project, plus items consumed by contractors such as diesel fuel — increased 0.9 percent in August and 1.0 percent from a year earlier, Sandherr noted. The price increases resume a longer-term trend that is forcing consee MATERIALS page 72