Freightliner moves business to Burke

By: Sharon McBrayer | Morganton News Herald
Published: July 13, 2009

Morganton --

A heavy truck dealership and service center is bringing its 55 employees and putting down roots in Burke County.
West Carolina Freightliner is moving from its Hickory location to Hildebran. The company will hold a groundbreaking ceremony on Wednesday at its future site on Curley's Fish Camp Road.
The company plans to build a 35,000-square-foot facility that will include 16 service bays, said Wayne Houser, parts and service director for the business.
It will sell, service and repair Freightliner, Western Star and Sterling trucks, Houser said. It also will sell parts at the facility, he said.
Construction on the new facility should start "shortly," Houser said, and the plan is to have it completed around February 2010.
The business is currently in a leased building on U.S. 70 in Hickory, across from Mike Johnson's Hickory Toyota.
Houser said the main reason for choosing Hildebran was available property that was close to Interstate 40.
The business also wanted to upgrade. Houser said they're currently in an older facility that they don't own.
Even with the car and truck industry taking a wallop during the economic recession, Houser is optimistic about the move.
He said a lot of the business' clientele are transit trucks — trucks traveling between two points. The other portion of clients are local, such as MDI, Catawba Truck Rental and Cable Transport, among others, Houser said.
Ken Maynard, owner of the business, said the economy now appears to be "flattening." In other words, Maynard believes it is staying steady.
Maynard said while the industry is the first to notice a downturn in the economy, it also is the first to notice a recovery. He's optimistic about what the business' growth will be in the future. The business also has a location in Asheville, said Maynard.
The move, Maynard said, is a long-term, strategic decision for the business.
And with the move, Maynard intends to get to know the community.
"We want to be a good community citizen," Maynard said.
Community leaders are happy the business chose Hildebran to relocate.
Mayor Wendell Hildebrand said the majority of the town's council members plan to be at the groundbreaking.
He said the company moving into town and building a new facility shows there are good things happening in spite of all the bad new about the economy.
Hildebrand also hopes it will make I-40 Exit 118 more appealing to other businesses.

Freightliner moves business to Burke

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