Economic collaboration brings Trussworks manufacturing facility to Jackson

Truss manufacturer Trussworks Mid-America LLC broke ground Monday, April 22, on a new $5 million manufacturing facility in Jackson.

Called Trussworks Jackson LLC, the facility will create 50 to 70 jobs.

“The jobs and sales taxes paid by Trussworks Jackson will provide and support the City of Jackson, including our police, our fire departments and our city departments,” Jackson Mayor Dwain Hahs said at the groundbreaking.

Steve Stroder, one of Jackson’s newest aldermen, is also president and chief executive officer of Trussworks Mid-America.

“We will be building roof trusses, wall panels, floor trusses and we’ll be distributing LVL beams and I-Joist as well as rough framing packages for the local builders in the community,” Stroder said.

Local, in this case, means builders within 100 square miles of Jackson. Stroder said the facility will manufacture and provide materials for projects such as hotels and assisted-living homes north to Iowa; south to Memphis, Tennessee; west to Kansas City; and east to Indianapolis.

“It’s right in the middle of a really good part of the country … and the big positive is this is my hometown and I love this place,” he added.

Steve Stroder, president and chief executive officer of Trussworks Mid-America LLC, speaks about the Trussworks Jackson LLC project at its official groundbreaking Monday, April 22. Stroder said the facility will employ some 50 to 70 people and will be open by the end of the year.Christopher Borro ~ cborro@semissourian.com

The Missouri Department of Economic Development approved Trussworks Jackson for the Missouri Works program, allowing the company to retain new state payroll taxes for five years.

The location chosen for the facility, near Cane Creek Road, is also in a Cape Girardeau County Enhanced Enterprise Zone, providing a 50% real property abatement tax for 10 years with the creation of new jobs.

A $787,812 grant from the federal Community Development Block Grant will allow for the expansion of Cane Creek Road in Jackson to develop even more room for future facilities. Trussworks Jackson will be at a new address, 2860 Trussworks Blvd.

“Through the partnerships with the city, the county, the economic development arm, the state, all of these things working together help make these projects possible,” said Shad Burner, a management consultant with local economic development group SE MO REDI.

Around 50 representatives from state agencies, local offices and economic groups attended Monday’s groundbreaking.

Trussworks LLC is a $150 million company based in Caldwell, Texas, of which Trussworks Mid-America is a sister company.

Family enterprise

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Stroder has been working with his family for almost his entire career and this endeavor will prove no exception. He and his wife, Angie, helped plan the Stark Truss Plant in Perryville in 1993 and she worked alongside him at a truss company in California. His son Wyatt has eight years’ experience in the truss industry and is a salesperson for Trussworks Mid-America’s Arkansas branch.

Angie Stroder will become Trussworks Jackson’s supply-chain manager and Wyatt Stroder will join as its general manager.

“This is a really special thing for us. We’re pretty excited about it,” Stroder said of the future facility.

Construction on Trussworks Jackson will begin Tuesday, April 23. Stroder said it would be completed by the end of 2024.