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YAKIMA -- A Montana steel and recycling firm will be expanding its Yakima location, doubling the num-ber of people it employs.

Pacific Steel & Recycling has started construction of a larger facility in Terrace Heights that includes a new 20,000-square-foot steel warehouse and office space, along with a 12,000-square-foot building for recycling. Construction of the new facility is expected to be completed by October or November.

The company has outgrown its current facility at 309 S. Front St., where it offered only steel services such as custom-cut steel for manufacturers.

Strong demand has made it necessary to increase capacity. The company expects sales to double over the next year, manager Tim Orth said.

And with more than eight acres at its new location at 407 Butterfield Road, the facility has room for recycling services. The recycling center, which will have a drive-through, will accept steel, tin, aluminum, copper, brass, aluminum cans and paper products.

"It will make us more efficient," Orth said. "We'll be able to stock more product and serve more people in the area."

The Great Falls, Mont., firm has more than 38 locations throughout the Northwest operating centers for steel service, steel distribution and recycling.

The company opened its Yakima facility eight years ago with a handful of employees. The expansion has led to the hiring of six more workers. Orth expects to have 20 full-time employees by next year.

The expansion was encouraging to Dave McFadden of New Vision, the county's private nonprofit economic development arm. He believes that expansion of small to mid-size businesses, such as Pacific Steel, is key to sustainable economic development.

"It's great to hit the home runs and get big companies in the region, but sometimes it's the small companies, even the branch offices (of larger companies) that are the engines of economic development," McFadden said.