HENDERSON (KTNV) — People are questioning the progress of a long-anticipated manufacturing plant in Henderson.
Several years ago, leaders with the City of Henderson announced plans for a massive, new manufacturing complex in West Henderson. Construction was supposed to start already, but where the plant is supposed to be, now sits an empty lot.
"What do you say to a company with branches on four continents, a 21st century workforce, an average salary of $60,000 a year and that's constructing a 2.5 million square-foot facility," said Debra March, former Henderson mayor back in early 2020."Well, you can say, 'welcome to Henderson'."
In March 2020, the Henderson City Council approved a deal to sell nearly 280 acres of land to Haas Automation. The machine tool company is a California high-tech machine and parts manufacturer.
As part of the deal, the governor's Office of Economic Development approved $10.5 million of tax breaks for the project. The complex was supposed to be finished last year and provide over 2,000 jobs.
"Well, the Henderson facility is continuing, although a little bit slower than previously thought," said Peter Zierhut, vice president of Haas Automation. "You know, we finished grading the property."
However, the company has not started building. Bids for vertical construction will go out soon, says Haas attorney Patrick Walsh. He also says the project was delayed by the pandemic and their were supply chain issues.
A resident in the Inspirada development says he is excited Haas.
"I do know a couple of foundations around here have received money from them." said Pat Forgeron. "So, as far as I'm concerned, I think their coming is a good thing."
As Haas prepares to move forward, a recent PBS report accused the company of supplying machine tools for Russian anti-aircraft weapon systems used in the country's war with Ukraine.
Zierhut did not deny that Haas products have been used for such systems by clients of their product distributor. However, he said Haas has terminated its relationship with that certain distributor called "Abamet Management" after the Russian invasion of Ukraine early last year.
"We were very clear about the fact that we cut off our distribution on March 3," Zierhut said.
"We have a contract with our distributors," Walsh said. "We require them to cooperate with us and to not violate any U.S. export laws, so if a machine goes to Russia, we check the denied parties list to make sure it's not going to a user on that list."
Haas officials told us the company is still on track for the development, although no specific dates have been given for when the first buildings will be complete.
