HUNTINGTON — Magnetech Industrial Services Inc. in Huntington can trace its roots back more than 120 years of serving the needs of the railroad industry.
The local operation’s history goes back to the 1890s, when it opened as the Westinghouse Service Center where the Mountain Health Arena (formerly the Big Sandy Superstore Arena) is now located. After being flooded in 1937, the business moved to 10th Street.
In 1986, Westinghouse sold most of its apparatus repair division to Atlanta, Georgia-based Eastern Electric Apparatus Repair Company. In 1990, Eastern added a 10,000-square-foot expansion and in 1995, sold to Chicago-based Grand Eagle Services, which filed for bankruptcy in 2001.
The Huntington location was purchased in 2002 by Magnetech, which is based in Massillon, Ohio.
In 2012, it moved to its current location, thanks in part to an $850,000 investment made possible through the Huntington Area Development Council, or HADCO, and the West Virginia Economic Development Authority. That investment allowed Magnetech to move from its home for more than 75 years at 7th Avenue and 10th Street to a new and expanded 42,500-square-foot space at 501 8th Ave.
“To continue putting the economic interests of our community first, we must not forget the strength of the industries that have been with us for decades,” said David Lieving, CEO of the Huntington Area Development Council (HADCO). “As we look toward the future, we must not overlook the public benefits of the investments made by privately owned freight railroads and their role in supporting future development in West Virginia.”
The company has been heavily involved in West Virginia’s railroad industry and on Wednesday officials showed off Magnetech’s operations with a tour of its facility, which was attended by Lieving and other dignitaries and guests.
“Our Huntington facility is evidence of the historic partnership the railroads have had with West Virginia,” said Magnetech’s operations manager Keith Blankenship. “Our goal is to stay on the cutting edge of electrical services. Maintaining partnerships with all rail stakeholders is important for our continued contributions to the industry.”
Magnetech is a leader in the repair, service and supply of electrical equipment, including essential components of railroad locomotives, he said.
“We support the rail industry not only in West Virginia, but across the country,” Blankenship said.
U.S. Rep. Carol Miller, who represents West Virginia’s 3rd Congressional district, participated in the tour and said she was extremely impressed.
“West Virginia’s railroad infrastructure connects our communities and allows our goods to be transported throughout our state and around the country,” she said. “Today I saw a world-class company that services the locomotives that run on our railroads, and creates good-paying jobs in the region. I am extremely impressed by Magnetech’s contributions to both our community and to the success of American freight railroads.”
Miller said she is a co-sponsor of the BRACE Act, a tax credit that will help smaller railroads like the Kanawha River Railroad invest in rail infrastructure.
The tour was coordinated by Michael Gaynor, assistant vice president with GoRail, a national non-profit organization that works to build awareness of the public benefits of the railroad industry.
“Magnetech is just one example of the broad supplier industry that supports the railroads, so we like to bring members of Congress to tour supply facilities to see the broad impact railroads have on communities,” he said.
Gaynor said the railroad industry moves about 160 million tons of freight through West Virginia every year.
“It would take about 9 million trucks to move that equivalent freight,” he said.
Magnetech’s Huntington service center, which employs 27, specializes in the repair of locomotive components for Class I and light railroads, as well as electric motors, transformers and generators for railroads, refineries and steel mills.
“I am privileged to work with one of the best staffs in the industry here at Magnetech,” Blankenship said. “We have a talented group of craftsmen here at our shop and the support services here in the offices are the best in the business.”
In the past, the Huntington service center achieved Association of American Railroads M-1003 quality certification and is also certified by Underwriters Laboratory.
Magnetech has eight other locations, including sites in Ohio, Indiana, Alabama, Georgia and California. The company repairs, services and supplies electrical apparatus, and services equipment from the transformer to the driven component.
