Clarksville manufacturing plant expands, boosts area economy
CLARKSVILLE, Texas – Ekena Millworks, a subsidiary of PCI Enterprises, recently announced an expansion of operations in this small town located about 60 miles east of Texarkana on U.S. Highway 82.
It manufactures an assortment of rustic wood mill work, such as gable vents, brackets and rafter tails. It has half a million square feet of warehouse facilities in Northeast Texas.
This Red River County expansion means job opportunities for residents in the region both in manufacturing and warehousing.
“Our first warehouse in Clarksville launched about 13 years ago,” said Daniel Milkie, business development director. “Just this year alone, we have expanded into one more new build
ing and already are looking into another.”
Milkie said it took about two months to set up manufacturing in its “Division 8” facility, creating a dozen new jobs along the way.
“In addition to these new buildings, we revamped our current manufacturing and warehouse production lines that allowed us increased capacity and opportunities for new, immediate positions,” he said.
Ekena has seen an 82% hike in employment at their manufacturing locutions, compared to this time last year, and the average wage of a Clarksville team member went up 25% as well, Milkie said.
“Warehouse and manufacturing jobs are a great start, but we are investing in technical and logistical growth, too,” he said. “We want long-term careers in one of the oldest industries in the country. Given changes in online ordering, the growth in real estate and residential homes being built, we can only expect more demand for our products and a need for skilled workers not only to make and manufacture them, but people to fulfill and ship orders as well.”
He said PCI’s continued expansion will include both manufacturing and warehouse positions. The warehouse positions involve picking, packaging, and shipping items.
“PCI’s expansion creates capacity needed for the demand from many of their large customers like Amazon, Home Depot, Lowe’s, Wayfair, and their own network of e-commerce sites,” Milkie said. It will also create dozens of needed local jobs in the Clarksville and surrounding communities. It will allow our employees growth opportunities within the company …”