NATCHEZ — Business is booming at Great River Industries, so much so the company is currently undergoing a $2 million expansion, which is the company’s fifth major expansion since opening the plant in 2011, area industrial leaders said.

Also in the works for later this year, or in early 2020, company officials said, is construction of a new company headquarters building on the company grounds located near the Natchez-Adams County Port.

The current expansion at Great River is to make improvements to the shop facility, said Kenny Lawson, president of Great River Industries.

“This particular expansion is improving the shop and installing plasma burning beds,” Lawson said.

Great River Industries specializes in metal fabrication to order for various industrial needs, including engineering and constructing fabricated steel plate products such as storage tanks and pressure vessels.

Lawson said the company has experienced an uptick in business in the past few years particularly from clients in the petro-chemical and refinery industries.

The latest expansion at Great River Industries in Natchez, said Chandler Russ, executive director of Natchez Inc., will bring additional jobs to the area.

Those jobs mostly will be white-collar jobs such as engineering, bookkeeping and accounting, Lawson said.

Currently, Great River Industries employs approximately 270 people with an average salary of approximately $60,000 per year, Russ said, adding that jobs currently filled at the site include welders, field construction workers, crew managers and equipment operators.

“It is a tremendous benefit to our area,” Russ said.

Current job openings, Lawson said, include white collar and support staff positions and the job descriptions and applications can be found on the company’s website at https://www.greatriver360.com/jobs-available or by visiting the company office at 21 Moran Road, Natchez.

“Great River has been a tremendous corporate partner in the community over the past several years,” Russ said. “Their plans are robust for the future. They have a strong, active workload, and they are really growing great guns and have been a true and good community champion and are always willing to help in economic development in our area.”

Russ said having Great River Industries located in the port is a great drawing card for attracting new industries considering locating in the area of the port.

“Having a metal fabrication facility really almost adjacent to most of our industrial properties helps us with clients to show them the work they can do,” Russ said. “They do a tremendous amount of work out there.”