The National Cement Company of Alabama on Thursday joined with local and state officials to hold a ribbon-cutting ceremony for its $300 million Ragland plant expansion.

The plant’s new bio-friendly production line represents the largest investment in St. Clair County history.

Local affiliate CBS 42 reports that the cement plant’s addition is a rotary kiln that substitutes fossil fuels with alternative fuels. The production line will be energy efficient and environmentally friendly, according to company leadership.

The National Cement Company of Alabama’s expansion at its Ragland plant makes the cement producer one of the largest employers in the area.

According to Gov. Kay Ivey, the plant’s addition is a prime example of state leadership’s commitment to “creating new jobs” while “keeping existing ones.”

This morning, we cut the ribbon on the National Cement Company of Alabama’s $300 million expansion – the largest investment in the history of St. Clair County!

Folks, that’s what we’re about in Alabama, creating new jobs & keeping existing ones. #alpolitics pic.twitter.com/zXfyhLaIA3

— Governor Kay Ivey (@GovernorKayIvey) July 21, 2022

Project executive and manager Casey Rushing touched on the challenges of embarking on the project during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It was a global challenge with the pandemic of COVID,” CBS 42 quoted Rushing as saying. “It really hindered this project and made it difficult to complete, but all the teams worked together, of course, and now you can see the finished outputs of that.”

According to National Cement Company of Alabama president Spencer Weitman, a large majority of the plant’s workforce consists of Ragland residents.

The expansion, Weitman said, would further provide employment opportunities for the local citizenry.

“This puts us into the next 40 or 50 years,” advised the company president.” And it’s prolonged the life of the plant to move us forward into the next entry hopefully.”

The company has operated in St. Clair County for more than 100 years. The plant began operations at its Ragland site in 1910.

Purchased by France-based Vicat Group, the company holds a customer base that spans across the southeast. The plant ships manufactured cement products to Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Mississippi and Florida.

Dylan Smith is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @DylanSmithAL