WILLIAMSTOWN, W.Va. - WILLIAMSTOWN - The Hino Motors plant in Wood County will begin construction this weekend on an expansion that could double production at the plant, production manager Justin Wager said Thursday.

The expansion will extend the existing conveyor and add two assembly lines - and create 30 new jobs, Wager said. Hiring already has begun, he said during Thursday's tour of the plant with the West Virginia Economic Development Authority board of directors.

"Right now, we are building a truck every 42 minutes," Wager said, which means that workers complete 10 trucks during the 8 a.m. to 4:30 shift. The plant hopes to double that to 20 trucks per shift, he said.

In April, Hino Motors announced that it would stop production at the Toyota Auto Body Consortium plant in Long Beach, Calif., this month. At the time, they said some of the work would be shifted to Williamstown once demand increases.

The Long Beach plant produced 4,800 trucks during the fiscal year that ended in March. The Williamstown plant has the capacity to make 5,000 trucks annually.

The WVEDA has some investment in the 197,000-square-foot manufacturing facility, which opened in November 2007 and employs 80 people. Thursday's trip was part of the WVEDA board's monthly meeting

In July 2007, the board approved a 20-year lease and purchase agreement with Hino for $5 million for the plant's equipment. Also, the WVEDA purchased the property next door to plant for possible further expansion, WVEDA Executive Director David Warner said

At the Williamstown plant, only the cab, engine and frame rails of the trucks come from Japan, Wager said. Domestically produced parts include the hood, tires, fenders, wheels, axles, springs and fuel tanks, he said. The plant also is working to produce the frame rails domestically, he said.

WILLIAMSTOWN, W.Va. - WILLIAMSTOWN - The Hino Motors plant in Wood County will begin construction this weekend on an expansion that could double production at the plant, production manager Justin Wager said Thursday.

The expansion will extend the existing conveyor and add two assembly lines - and create 30 new jobs, Wager said. Hiring already has begun, he said during Thursday's tour of the plant with the West Virginia Economic Development Authority board of directors.

"Right now, we are building a truck every 42 minutes," Wager said, which means that workers complete 10 trucks during the 8 a.m. to 4:30 shift. The plant hopes to double that to 20 trucks per shift, he said.

In April, Hino Motors announced that it would stop production at the Toyota Auto Body Consortium plant in Long Beach, Calif., this month. At the time, they said some of the work would be shifted to Williamstown once demand increases.

The Long Beach plant produced 4,800 trucks during the fiscal year that ended in March. The Williamstown plant has the capacity to make 5,000 trucks annually.

The WVEDA has some investment in the 197,000-square-foot manufacturing facility, which opened in November 2007 and employs 80 people. Thursday's trip was part of the WVEDA board's monthly meeting

In July 2007, the board approved a 20-year lease and purchase agreement with Hino for $5 million for the plant's equipment. Also, the WVEDA purchased the property next door to plant for possible further expansion, WVEDA Executive Director David Warner said

At the Williamstown plant, only the cab, engine and frame rails of the trucks come from Japan, Wager said. Domestically produced parts include the hood, tires, fenders, wheels, axles, springs and fuel tanks, he said. The plant also is working to produce the frame rails domestically, he said.

In its meeting before the tour, the WVEDA board approved $43.2 million in tax-exempt industrial development bond money for the Longview Power LLC project in Monongalia County.

The $1.8 billion power project is about 10 percent to 15 percent complete, said Warner, who toured the plant on Wednesday. "It's an impressive construction project," he said.

The plant has 550 construction workers on site, with about 1,500 expected by the end of 2008.

In other business, the board approved two loans: $790,000 to HAGO Co. and $695,000 to W.A. Wilson & Sons Inc., both of Wheeling.

The board also gave preliminary approval to two loans, including $427,500 to Control Point Machining and Fabrication Inc. of Charleston to purchase Yeardley Engineering, and $329,275 to ThreeSquare LLC of Martinsburg, to renovate a three-story building in downtown Martinsburg.

Reach Sarah K. Winn

at sarahkw...@wvgazette.com

or 348-5156.