Terramite, a Cross Lanes-based company that manufactures compact construction machinery, has been sold to Wichita, Kan.-based Coneqtec-Universal Construction Products.

Coneqtec-Universal President Gary Cochran said he plans to reopen the Terramite plant on Dec. 29.

Some Terramite employees have been interviewed in recent days about jobs that might open up when Coneqtec-Universal reopens the facility on Goff Mountain Road, he said.

Like Terramite, Cochran's company manufactures small construction machinery.

"We purchased the assets of Terramite," Cochran said. "We had some of my people there over the weekend. The deal was closed on [Dec. 19]. We wanted to talk to all the employees personally. We interviewed on Friday and Saturday."

Former Terramite employees who might be rehired can expect a letter in the next week. On Tuesday, Cochran said the letters would be mailed in the "next day or two."

He declined to say how many former Terramite employees could be rehired. He said another Coneqtec-Universal official was considering the number Tuesday.

Cochran was not immediately sure how many workers Terramite employed before the plant closed Friday.

"What I've heard is this company's bought them out," said Kanawha County Commission President Kent Carper. "I'm very concerned about it. I'm concerned about the company and the employees."

Terramite, a Cross Lanes-based company that manufactures compact construction machinery, has been sold to Wichita, Kan.-based Coneqtec-Universal Construction Products.

Coneqtec-Universal President Gary Cochran said he plans to reopen the Terramite plant on Dec. 29.

Some Terramite employees have been interviewed in recent days about jobs that might open up when Coneqtec-Universal reopens the facility on Goff Mountain Road, he said.

Like Terramite, Cochran's company manufactures small construction machinery.

"We purchased the assets of Terramite," Cochran said. "We had some of my people there over the weekend. The deal was closed on [Dec. 19]. We wanted to talk to all the employees personally. We interviewed on Friday and Saturday."

Former Terramite employees who might be rehired can expect a letter in the next week. On Tuesday, Cochran said the letters would be mailed in the "next day or two."

He declined to say how many former Terramite employees could be rehired. He said another Coneqtec-Universal official was considering the number Tuesday.

Cochran was not immediately sure how many workers Terramite employed before the plant closed Friday.

"What I've heard is this company's bought them out," said Kanawha County Commission President Kent Carper. "I'm very concerned about it. I'm concerned about the company and the employees."

"There's no commitment and it's all quite up in the air from what I've been told," he said. "Anything we can do to assist the new company we will do."

Kelly Cunningham founded Terramite in 1965 to build small tractors that have since become recognized all over the world. Bob and John, his sons, took over the company after Kelly Cunningham died in 1994.

On Tuesday afternoon, a woman who answered the phone at the plant in Cross Lanes referred comment to Coneqtec-Universal. Later, she said she would send a phone message on to Bob Cunningham, who did not immediately return the message.

In June, John Cunningham was featured in the Gazette for a remote-controlled vehicle Terramite built for military use. Cunningham and crews at Terramite designed the vehicle to find and defeat roadside bombs.

"We're very proud to be a West Virginia company," Cunningham said at the time.

"It's a local company, good employer, long-standing member of the business community," Carper said. "We're really concerned about it."

Reach Davin White at davinwh...@wvgazette.com

or 304-348-1254.