I must of missed this in the news. Pretty cool stuff.

New ammo plant brings 90 new jobs to East Texas

MARSHALL, TX (KSLA) -
It was an effort 6 years in the making, and there are tens of millions of dollars at stake in economic development for East Texas. We're talking about the Rio Ammunition Plant that's now open for business in Marshall, Texas.

With the snip of a giant pair of scissors for a symbolic ribbon cutting ceremony inside the brand new facility, there was no thunderous bang of a shotgun shell explosion, but instead a smattering of applause. It ushered in the era of Rio Ammunition to Marshall, Texas and was all part of what the company called an 'Inauguration' as they opened their doors to the community to celebrate their opening.

Marshall Economic Development Corporation (MEDCO) Board Member Hal Cornish told the large crowd of visitors, "You know, they're the largest manufacturer of shotgun shells in the world. So, we're delighted that they chose us to build the plant here."

There's big money at stake, an estimated $55 million in economic development over the next decade. MEDCO Executive Director Donna Maisel broke it all down for us.

"We're talking about payroll, we're talking about property taxes, sales taxes, international visitors from other divisions of the company and their customers," said Maisel.

We had been hoping to get a view inside of plant operations to see how they make the shotgun shells. Unfortunately, they would not allow cameras inside, saying that there are proprietary secrets inside.

But, KSLA News 12 was there at the very beginning, in April of 2014, for the groundbreaking of the $19 million overall investment by parent company Maxam, based in Spain. Just four months ago, as construction neared completion, we got a sneak peak inside the facility.

We're told they chose Texas because it's one of the best markets. As for why Marshall, Maisel explained, "They chose Marshall because of the Texas State Technical College and because of the community support and endorsement of the company and their trust and belief in them."

While the plant now employs 90 people, there are already plans for future growth. It manufactures shotgun shells for hunting and competition sporting events and there are plenty of potential customers. There are an estimated 20 million recreational shooters in the U.S.

Rio Ammo says it has grown to become the global leader of shotgun ammunition with 30 percent of worldwide sales.
Copyright 2015 KSLA. All rights reserved.
http://www.ksla.com/story/29411057/new-ammo-plant-brings-90-new-jobs-to-east-texas

Any one know if they are going to sell direct out of this facility?

Sure would be nice to drive over and pick up a couple cases! Hard to find them in Texarkana!

I don't know about that.

There is an other ammo manufacturer opening a plant in Pflugerville that is going to make 22LR's, they said they are going to try and meet local demand.

From the article

Here is a better story.

José F. Sánchez-Junco Mans, chairman and chief executive officer of Maxam, talked about the company's current projects and history in the U.S. through its Maxam Civil Explosives, Maxam North America and defense group, Expal USA. Because of a recent order from the U.S. Army for the demilitarization of conventional ammunition, over the next five years Expal USA will be expanding to a new industrial site in Texarkana, Sánchez-Junco Mans said. "This site is expected to start activities in the third quarter of 2015," Sánchez-Junco Mans said. "The Texarkana facility will become one of the largest demilitarization and energetic recycling plants in North America."

http://www.news-journal.com/news/2015/jun/25/rio-ammunition-manufacturing-facility-opens-in-mar/

I can tell you this;

Rio is my favorite factory load these days.
Their Target and Game loads are greatness.
I'll be glad to continue support, especially since they are now home grown.

Now I wish the Abbott would invite any and all gun manufacturers into the state with a 10 year tax exemption, on both sales and property. Get them here at all costs and get the benefits later.

Hmmm, I wonder if they need an IT manager? I wouldn't mind moving back to Marshall.

great news and they make a good shell

I don't know about IT Manager but I think the article said they were hiring

if they need someone to test the shot gun ammo i am the man.

I love their steel shot, this reminded me to order some cases now

We did the steel work for that job

I wish they would sell to the public...seems like there would be a substantial savings, from not having to ship them, if you could just back the pickup up to a dick and slide a pallet of ammonia in

Wish I could afford pallet at a time.

Edit function man, edit function

If it wouldn't land me in banned camp, I would edit and have that for a sig line.

...well, it's too late for an edit now.

I've got to stop posting from my iPhone, between big thumbs and bad eyes, it gets me in trouble pretty often.

I'm tempted to use it without editing but I know how it would end.

LMAO- I almost spit my shiner all over the keyboard!

But dang, wish they would allow pickup at a reduced rate!

We noticed 7 different shooters numbers dropped about 10-15 shot when we used these for sporting clays. It's good to have the business at home though.

That post did come out pretty funny. I have gone back over it several times... I can see my big thumb hitting an "I" when typing "dock", but I am at a loss for how autocorrect came up with "ammonia".

Back on topic though, 10-15 targets out of a hundred is HUGE! I've shot quite a bit of RIO at sporting clays and dove and I have not noticed a difference. I also have buddy a in Houston that is pretty serious into Skeet; I've never seen him shy away from RIO.

I'd be curious to know more about why they think they are dropping target. Are they hitting them, but not breaking? Are the loads slower? Do they seem to pattern worst than other brands?