NRP Investing In New Coal Prep Plant, Rail Loading Facility

Natural Resource Partners is building a new coal preparation plant and railroad loading operation in McDowell County, W.Va. Construction and operation of the $16.2 million prep plant facility near Eckman should be completed by the third quarter. NRP said work on the railroad loading operation is expected to take until next year. NRP owns and manages coal properties and coal handling and transportation operations in Appalachia, the Illinois Basin and the Powder River Basin. The company is based in Houston and has its operational headquarters in Huntington.

Lockheed Martin Opens Biometric Center In Fairmont

Lockheed Martin has opened a research and development center in Fairmont that is designed to promote its biometrics efforts. The company’s Biometric Experimentation and Advanced Concepts center will employ up to 10 people and will be a collaborative effort for the experimentation, testing and analysis of biometrics research. The center will work with West Virginia University’s Center for Identification Technology Research and the Multi-Sector Management Consortiums network of more than 200 universities worldwide

Stamping Plant To Reopen; Create Hundreds Of New Jobs

A former automotive stamping plant in South Charleston is coming back to life. Governor Manchin announced May 17 that more than 500 manufacturing jobs will be created over the next five years by Charleston Stamping & Manufacturing Inc. The company is reopening an idle stamping operation that closed last year. Charleston Stamping will invest more than $35 million to refurbish the plant with new automation equipment, Wise said. That figure includes a $15 million loan preliminarily approved today by the West Virginia Economic Development Authority. The modernization is expected to allow the company to create 79 jobs in its first year, 140 jobs in its second year, and as many as 550 jobs in its fourth or fifth year. The plant is located in the 80-acre industrial park owned by Park Corp.

Acquisition Will Greatly Expand Mylan's Operations

Mylan Laboratories Inc. announced that is has agreed to buy Merck KGaA's generic-drug unit for $6.7 billion in cash to become the world's third-largest maker of generic versions of drugs. Mylan is headquartered in Canonsburg, Penn., but has major operations in Morgantown. The combination will let Mylan achieve economies of scale in manufacturing and gain access to new markets and products, company officials said. The enlarged company will have 10,000 employees and would have had 2006 sales of about $4.2 billion.