REGAL BELOIT (Making Friends in McAllen)

REGAL BELOIT (Making Friends in McAllen)
In December of 2011, the Texas Workforce Commission hosted a conference in Houston, TX to award the Employer Award of Excellence for the Workforce Solutions Lower Rio area. Regal Beloit Corp. was the proud recipient of that recognition, which honors companies that are actively involved with their local workforce board and make a positive impact on employers, workers, and the community.

Employers in the counties of Hidalgo, Starr and Willacy County were considered for this award.  Regal Beloit, a Fortune 1000 Wisconsin‐based heavy manufacturer of electric motors, HVAC components and metal stamping, purchased a 125,000 square foot facility in McAllen, TX in early 2011 for its advanced manufacturing plant. This move provided Regal Beloit with a strategic advantage by positioning it within minutes from its sister facility in Reynosa, MX, where different types of motors are assembled with the components manufactured in McAllen.

Their products are often concealed within larger items, but essential to the function of much of the equipment powering the world. You will find Regal Beloit products in home furnaces, pumps, elevators, conveyors, x‐ray machines, office equipment, power stations and thousands of other critical uses.

“We are extremely pleased to be here in McAllen. Our journey started a couple of years ago and encompass about a 10 million dollar investment, a lot of hours of preparation and working with McAllen EDC, the City of McAllen, the County, and the State of Texas. All that work was worthwhile when we look at where we are headed here,” said Henry Knueppel, CEO & Chairman of the Board of Regal Beloit Corp. “We are the last North American owned motor company of any substanceso what we do in the world matters. What our employees will do here will impact a huge percentage of our products, and the quality and on‐time delivery will make a big difference in the success of the company.”

While McAllen EDC worked in conjunction with South Texas College, the University of Texas Pan American, and Texas Workforce Solutions to provide the company with the necessary skilled workforce for the McAllen facility, Regal Beloit saw potential for further development for its process and our community. Feeding off the success of obtaining a qualified workforce, Regal Beloit, STC, UTPA and Workforce Solutions have been able to develop training and development courses for both, their new and existing employees. Traditionally hosted at their Regal Beloit Packard Learning Center in their headquarters in Beloit, Wisconsin, certain pilot development sessions are to be hosted in McAllen, TX.