LINCOLN, NEBRASKA - December 4, 2003 - Yankee Hill Brick & Tile announced today that it would build a new brick plant at its current site in southwest Lincoln. The plant will increase Yankee Hill's production capacity from 22 million bricks to over 40 million bricks annually.
Yankee Hill has signed a contract with Swindell-Dressler Corporation of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, for the turn-key construction of the plant, which will consist of a drier, a 348 foot long tunnel kiln, and automated brick handling equipment. Construction is expected to take twelve months. It is anticipated that the plant will be completed and brick production begun by December of 2004.
Brick manufacturing has taken place at the Lincoln site continuously since the late 1800's. In 1902 the company incorporated under the name of the Yankee Hill Brick Manufacturing Company. David H. Murdock, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer of Castle & Cooke, Inc. and Dole Food Company, purchased the company in 1969. In 2002, the company was merged into Pacific Clay Products, Inc., an affiliate of Castle & Cooke, Inc. In addition to the plant in Lincoln, Pacific Clay Products, Inc. owns and operates a brick plant in Lake Elsinore, California. The Lake Elsinore plant specializes in pool coping and brick pavers. When the new Lincoln Plant is completed, the combined Lincoln and Lake Elsinore operations will have capacity to produce 105 million bricks per year to meet the expanding needs of consumers from California to the East Coast.
David Kendle, plant manager in Lincoln, described the new plant as "a modern, automated plant capable of producing a wide variety of bricks consistent with Yankee Hill's expertise in architectural brick." Robots will handle the bricks prior to drying and firing. Brick packaging will continue in the same careful manner it has for decades with each piece being hand inspected. The new tunnel kiln burns natural gas and is anticipated to be 25% more fuel-efficient than the one it replaces. The plant will also have the latest in environmental controls, including a flue gas scrubber.
"We are elated to begin this project. For several years, we've been unable to make enough brick to meet the demand," said Harvey P. Cahoon, president of Yankee Hill. "Besides the capacity increase, we have an added bonus. The plant will also be able to produce the popular Ironspot and Mojave colors, long sought after by our customers," explained Mr. Cahoon.
Yankee Hill sells brick and tile at two locations in Nebraska - Lincoln and Omaha. In addition, it markets brick to distributors in 25 states and Canada. The company employs 75 people. The new plant is expected to add 12 people to the payroll by 2005 with additional staff expected over the following years.
Castle & Cooke, Inc. and its affiliated companies have operations in over 24 states. The companies' diversified businesses include the development and ownership of real estate, leasing of transportation equipment, manufacture of brick, and ownership of public warehouses. The companies' real estate developments include master planned communities such as Mililani Town on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, Lake Sherwood in Thousand Oaks, California, and Seven Oaks in Bakersfield, California. An affiliate of Castle & Cooke, Inc. also owns two of the world's highest-rated resorts on the 98% owned island of Lanai in Hawaii.